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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE BELGIAN 
COOK-BOOK 



EDITED BY 

MRS. BRIAN LUCK 




NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 

681 FIFTH AVENUE 



^ 6 

V .1 



Copyright, 1915 
By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 



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©CI.A411752 
SfP 30/9/5 **/ 



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'Lucullus, whom frugality could charm, 
Ate roasted turnips at the Sabine Farm." 



PREFACE 

The recipes in this little book have been sent by 
Belgian refugees from all parts of the United 
Kingdom, and it is through the kindness of these 
correspondents that I have been able to compile it. 
It is thought, also, that British cooking may bene- 
fit by the study of Belgian dishes. 

The perfect cook, like Mrs. 'Arris or the fourth 
dimension, is often heard of, but never actually 
found, so this small manual is offered for the use 
of the work-a-day and inexperienced mistress and 
maid. It is not written in the interests of million- 
aires. The recipes are simple, and most inexpen- 
sive, rather for persons of moderate means than 
for those who can follow the famous directions for 
a certain savory: " Take a leg of mutton," etc. 
A shelf of provisions should be valued, like love- 
making, not only for itself but for what it may be- 
come. 

Savories: If you serve these, let them be, like 
an ankle, small and neat and alluring. This dish 
is not obligatory; recollect that it is but a culinary 
work of supererogation. 

Soup: Let your soup be extremely hot; do not 



vi PREFACE 

let it be like the Laodiceans. You know what St. 
John said about them, and you would be sorry to 
think of your soup sharing the fate which he de- 
scribes with such saintly verve. Be sure that your 
soup has a good foundation, and avoid the Italian 
method of making consomme, which is to put a 
pot of water on to warm and to drive a cow past 
the door. 

Fish: It is a truism to say that fish should be 
absolutely fresh, yet only too many cooks think, 
during the week-end, that fish is like the manna of 
the Hebrews, which was imbued with Sabbatarian 
principles that kept it fresh from Saturday to Mon- 
day. I implore of you to think differently about 
fish. It is a most nourishing and strengthening 
food — other qualities it has, too, if one must 
believe the anecdote of the Sultan Saladin and the 
two anchorites. 

Meat: If your meat must be cooked in water, 
let it not boil but merely simmer; let the pot just 
whisper agreeably of a good dish to come. Do 
you know what an English tourist said, looking 
into a Moorish cooking-pot? "What have you 
got there? Mutton and rice?" "For the mo- 
ment, Sidi, it is mutton and rice," said the Moorish 
cook; " but in two hours, inshallah, when the garlic 
has kissed the pot, it will be the most delicious 
comforter from Mecca to Casa Blanca." 



PREFACE vii 

Simmer and season, then, your meats, and let 
the onion (if not garlic) just kiss the pot, even if 
you allow no further intimacy between them. 
Use bay-leaves, spices, herbs of all sorts, vinegar, 
cloves; and never forget pepper and salt. 

Game is like Love, the best appreciated when 
it begins to go. Only experience will teach you, 
on blowing up the breast feathers of a pheasant, 
whether it ought to be cooked to-day or to-mor- 
row. Men, as a rule, are very particular about 
the dressing of game, though they may not all be 
able to tell, like the Frenchman, upon which of 
her legs a partridge was in the habit of sitting. 
Game should be underdone rather than well done ; 
it should never be without well-buttered toast un- 
derneath it to collect the gravy, and the knife to 
carve it with should be very, very sharp. 

Vegetables: Nearly all these are at their best 
(like brunettes) just before they are fully ma- 
tured. So says a great authority, and no doubt he 
is thinking of young peas and beans, lettuces and 
asparagus. Try to dress such things as potatoes, 
parsnips, cabbages, carrots, in other ways than 
simply boiled in water, for the water often re- 
moves the flavor and leaves the fiber. Do not let 
your vegetable-dishes remind your guests of Frois- 
sart's account of Scotchmen's food, which was 
" rubbed in a little water." 



viii PREFACE 

Sweets: It is difficult to give any general 
directions for sweets. They should be made to 
look attractive, and they should be constantly 
varied. The same remarks apply to savories, 
which last ought always to be highly seasoned, 
whether hot or cold. 

Made Dishes are a great feature in this little 
book. I have tried to help those small house- 
holds who cook, let us say, a leg of mutton on 
Sunday, and then see it meander through the week 
in various guises till it ends its days honorable as 
soup on the following Friday. Endeavor to hide 
from your husband that you are making that leg of 
mutton almost achieve eternal life. It is notice- 
able that men are attracted to a house where there 
is good cooking, and the most unapproachable be- 
ings are rendered accessible by the pleasantness of 
a souffle, or the aroma of a roast duck. You must 
have observed that a certain number of single men 
have their hearts very " wishful " towards their 
cook. Not infrequently they marry that cook; 
but it is less that she is a good and charming 
woman than that she is a good and charming cook. 
Ponder this, therefore; for I have known men 
otherwise happy, who long for a good beaf-steak 
pudding as vainly as the Golden Ass longed for a 
meal of roses. Try these recipes, for really good 
rissoles and hashes. Twice-cooked meat can al- 



PREFACE ix 

ways be alleviated by mushrooms or tomatoes. 
Remember that the discovery of a new dish is of 
more use than the discovery of a new star, — be- 
sides which, you will get much more praise for it. 
And if on Wednesday you find that you have to 
eat the same part of the very same animal that you 
had on Monday, do not, pray, become exasper- 
ated; treat it affectionately, as I treat my black hat, 
which becomes more ravishing every time that I 
alter it. Only, do not buy extravagant make- 
weight for a scrap of cold meat that would be best 
used in a mince patty, or you will be like a man 
keeping a horse in order to grow mushrooms. 

And, lastly, the good cook must learn about 
food what every sensible woman learns about love 
— how best to utilize the cold remains. 

M. Luck. 



PART I 



THE 
BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

PART I 

Cauliflower Soup 

After you have boiled a cauliflower, it is a great 
extravagance to throw away the liquor; it is deli- 
cately flavored and forms the basis of a good soup. 
Wash well your cauliflower, taking great care to 
remove all grit and insects. Place it to simmer 
with its head downwards, in salted water; and, 
when it is tender, remove it. Now for the soup. 
Let all the outer leaves and odd bits simmer well, 
then pass them through a sieve. Fry some 
chopped onions, add the liquor of the cauliflower 
and the pieces that have been rubbed through the 
sieve, add a little white pepper and a slice of 
brown bread. Let all cook gently for half-an- 
hour, then, just before serving it, take out the 
slice of bread and sprinkle in two teaspoonfuls of 
grated Gruyere cheese. 



2 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Fish Soup 

When you buy fish and have it filleted, ask for 
the bones and trimmings to be sent also. Put a 
quart of milk to heat and add to it a bunch of 
mixed herbs, a few minced shallots, parsley, pep- 
per and salt. Throw in your fish and cook for an 
hour. If you have any celery put in a piece, or 
two or three white artichokes. Strain the soup, 
taste it, and add more salt or more milk as you 
think necessary. Return to the pan. Take the 
yolk of an egg and just before taking the soup 
from the fire, stir it quickly in. This soup must 
never boil. It should be made out of the very 
white fish, excluding herring and mackerel. 

Starvation Soup 

If you have a pork-bone from the fresh meat, let 
it boil in water for an hour. Put the pan to cool 
and take off the fat, and remove the bone. Re- 
place the pan on the fire and throw into it two 
pounds of Brussels sprouts. Do not add onions 
to this soup but leeks, and the hearts of cabbage. 
Pepper and spice to taste. Rub it through a sieve 
and let it be thick enough to form a thin puree. 

Immediate Soup, or Ten Minutes Soup 

Into a quart of boiling water throw two table- 
spoonfuls of either semolina or tapioca : let it boil 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 3 

for eight minutes with a dust of salt and pepper. 
Meanwhile, take your tureen, put quickly into it 
two yolks of very fresh eggs, add two pats of 
butter and two small spoonfuls of water to mix 
it. Stir quickly with the spoon, and when the 
soup has done its eight minutes' boiling, pour it on 
the egg and butter in the tureen. This is an ex- 
tremely good soup. It is rendered still better by a 
small quantity of Bovril. 

Chervil Soup 

Put a bone of veal on to cook in water, with 
four or five potatoes, according to the quantity 
desired. When these are tender, pass them 
through the tammy and return them to the soup. 
Chop up the chervil, adding to it half a dessert- 
spoonful of cornflour. Quarter of an hour before 
serving, put in the chervil, but take the cover off 
the pot, so that it remains a good green color. 
Pepper and salt to be added also. 

[V. Verachtert, Cafe Appelmans, Anvers.~\ 

A Good Pea Soup 

Soak your dried peas over-night. The follow- 
ing day boil some fresh water, and throw in the 
peas, adding a few chopped onions and leeks, with 
pepper and salt. Let the soup simmer for three 
hours on the top of the stove, giving it a stir now 



4 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

and then. If you have a ham-bone, that is a 
great improvement, or the water in which some 
bacon has been boiled is a good foundation for 
the soup, instead of the fresh water. 

[Mdlle. M. Schmidt.'] 

Waterzoei 

This is an essentially Flemish soup. One uses 
carp, eels, tench, roach, perches, barbel, for the 
real waterzoei is always made of different kinds 
of fish. Take two pounds of fish, cut off the heads 
and tails, which you will fry lightly in butter, add- 
ing to make the sauce a mixed carrot and onion, 
three cloves, a pinch of white pepper, a sprig of 
parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf; pour in two- 
thirds of water and one-third of white wine till 
it more than covers the ingredients and let it sim- 
mer for half-an-hour. Then the pieces of fish must 
be cut an equal size, and they are placed to cook 
quickly in this liquor for twenty minutes. Five 
minutes before serving add a lemon peeled and 
cut into slices and the pips removed. Some peo- 
ple bind the sauce with breadcrumbs grated and 
browned. You serve, with this dish, very thin 
slices of bread and butter. For English tastes, 
the heads and tails should be removed when dress- 
ing the dish. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 5 

A Good Belgian Soup 

is called crime de saute. Itself one of the most 
wholesome of vegetables, watercress combines ad- 
mirably with potatoes in making soup. Wash, dry, 
and chop finely four ounces of the leaves picked 
from the stalks, fry slowly for five minutes with or 
without a thinly-sliced onion, add one pound of po- 
tatoes cut in small dice, and fry, still very slowly, 
without browning; pour in one quart of water or 
thin stock, simmer gently, closely-covered, for from 
thirty-five to fifty minutes, rub through a hair sieve, 
and having returned the puree to the saucepan with 
a half-teaspoonful of castor sugar, and salt and 
cayenne to taste, thicken with one table-spoonful of 
flour stirred smoothly into one breakfast-cupful of 
cold milk; boil up sharply, and serve sprinkled with 
watercress. [E. Haig.'\ 

Belgian Puree 

Cook two pounds of Brussels sprouts in boiling 
water. Take them out, drain them and toss them 
in butter for five minutes, sprinkle them with a 
teaspoonful of flour, and then cook them in gravy 
(or meat extract and water), fast boiling, over a 
good fire, and keep the lid of the saucepan off so 
that they may remain green. Pass them through 
the sieve, leave them in ten minutes, bind the mix- 
ture with the yolks of three eggs, a pint of milk; 



6 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

then at the last minute one dessertspoonful of but- 
ter for each pint and a half of soup. 

Ambassador Soup 

A pint and a half of either fresh peas, or of dried 
peas that have been soaked for six hours in cold 
water; a leek, and three onions chopped finely. 
Simmer till the peas are tender, then pass all 
through the sieve. Well wash some sorrel and 
chop it, and add as much as will be to your taste. 
In another pan cook five teablespoonfuls of rice, 
and add that to your soup. Simmer up again, 
stirring it all very well. This soup should be of 
a green color. 

[Mme. Georges Goffaux.~\ 

Crecy Soup (Belgian recipe) 

Take ten carrots, two onions, one leek, five po- 
tatoes, and cook all gently in water, with salt and 
pepper; when they are tender, rub them through 
the sieve and serve it very hot. 

[G. Goffaux.~\ 

Flemish Soup 

To two pounds of washed and picked Brussels 
sprouts add ten potatoes, two onions, two leeks, 
salt, pepper. Cook all gently and pass through a 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 7 

sieve. Add at the last moment a sprinkle of 
chopped chervil. 

[G. Goffaux.] 

Tomato Puree 

Begin by cleaning four potatoes, two leeks, a 
celery, four carrots, three pounds of big tomatoes; 
well wash all these vegetables and cut them in 
dice, the tomatoes a little larger. Cook them all 
gently for an hour in nearly two pints of gravy, 
to which you have already added two thick slices 
of bread and a pinch of salt. Take care that your 
vegetables do not stick to the bottom of the pan. 
When all is well cooked, pass it through a fine 
tammy. Add more gravy, or water and meat 
juice; make it of the consistency that you wish. 
Bring it to the boil again over the fire, adding 
pepper and salt, and just before serving a bit of 
fresh butter also. It is a great improvement to 
add at the last minute the yolk of an egg, mixed 
in a little cold water, quickly stirred in when the 
soup is off the fire. 

The three recipes for seven or eight persons. 

[G. Kerckaert.] 

Onion Soup 

Mince some thick onions, five or six, and let 
them color over the fire in butter. Add a dessert- 



8 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

spoonful of flour, sprinkling it in, and the same 
amount in gravy; thicken it with potatoes and 
when these are cooked, peas, all through a sieve. 
Bring the puree to the right consistency with milk, 
and let it simmer for a few minutes before serving, 
adding pepper and salt. 

[Gabrielle Janssens.~\ 

Potage Leman 

Make a good gravy with one and one-half 
pounds of skirt of beef. With one half of the 
gravy make a very good puree of peas — if possi- 
ble the green peas — with the other half make a 
good puree of tomatoes. Combine the two purees, 
adding pepper and salt and a dust of cayenne. 
For each guest add to the soup a teaspoonful of 
Madeira wine, beat it all well and serve quickly. 
Or add, instead of Madeira, one dessertspoonful 
of sherry wine. 

This celebrated soup is honored by the name of 
the glorious defender of Namur. 

[Gabrielle Jans sens. ] 

Tomato Soup 

Boil together six medium potatoes, a celery, two 
leeks, two carrots, and a pound of fresh tomatoes, 
with pepper, salt and a leaf of bay. Pass all 
through the sieve. Fry two or three chopped on- 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 9 

ions in some butter and add the soup to them. Boil 
up again for twenty minutes before serving. If 
you have no fresh tomatoes, the tinned ones can 
be used, removing the* skin, at the same time that 
you add the fried onions. 

[Mme. van Praet.~\ 

Soup, Cream of Asparagus 

Boil some potatoes and pass them through the 
sieve, add the asparagus-tops, with a pat of butter 
for each four tops; thin the soup with extract of 
meat and water, and at the last moment stir in the 
raw yolks of two eggs, and a little chopped pars- 
ley. 

[Mme. van Praet.~\ 

Green Pea Soup 

Put half a pound of dry green peas to soak 
overnight in water, with a teaspoonful of bicar- 
bonate of soda in it. In the morning take out the 
peas and put them on the fire in about three-and- 
a-half pints of water. When the peas are nearly 
cooked, add five big potatoes. When all is cooked 
enough for the skins to come off easily, rub all 
through a sieve. Fry in some butter four or five 
onions and five or six leeks till they are brown, or, 
failing butter, use some fat of beef; add these to 
the peas and boil together a good half-hour. If 



io THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

possible, add a pig's trotter cut into four, which 
makes the soup most excellent. When ready to 
serve, remove the four pieces of trotter. Little 
dice of fried bread should be handed with the 
soup. \V. V erachtert.~\ 

Vegetable Soup 

Fry four onions till they are brown. Add them 
to three pints of water, with four carrots, a slice 
of white crumb of bread, five potatoes, a celery 
and a bunch of parsley, which you must take out 
before passing the soup through the sieve. A 
few tomatoes make the soup better; if they are 
tinned, do not add them till after the soup has 
been passed through the tammy; if they are fresh, 
put them in with the other vegetables. Simmer 
for an hour, add pepper and salt before serving. 

\V. Verachtert.'] 

Mushroom Cream Soup 

On a good white stock foundation, for which 
you have used milk and a bone of veal, sprinkle in 
some ground rice till it thickens, stirring it well 
for twenty minutes. Wash and chop your mush- 
rooms, and fry them in butter. Add the yolk of 
an egg and bind it. This is a delicious soup. 

[Mme. van Mar eke de Lunessen.~\ 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK H 

The Soldiers' Vegetable Soup 
(Eight to ten persons) 
Peel three pounds of vegetables. Put them in 
a large pot with all the vegetables that you can 
find, according to the season. In the winter you 
will take four celeries, four leeks, two turnips, a 
cabbage, two onions, pepper and salt, two-penny- 
worth of bones, and about five and one-half quarts 
of water. Let it all boil for three hours, taking 
care to add water so as to keep the quantity at 
five quarts. Rub all the vegetables through a 
tammy, crushing them well, and then let them boil 
up again for at least another hour. The time al- 
lotted for the first and second cooking is of the 
greatest importance. 

Leek Soup 

Cut up two onions and fry them till they are 
brown; you need not use butter, clarified fat will 
do very well. Clean your leeks, washing them 
well; cut them in pieces and fry them also; add any 
other vegetables that you have, two medium-sized 
potatoes, pepper, salt, and a little water. Let all 
simmer for three hours, and pass it through a fine 
sieve. Let there be more leeks than other vege- 
tables, so that their flavor predominates. 

[Mme. Jules Segers.~\ 



i % THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Ceteris au Lard 

Take one pound of celery, cut off the green tops, 
cut the stems into pieces two-thirds of an inch long; 
put into boiling salted water, and cook till tender. 
Take one-half pound potatoes, peel and slice, and 
add to the celery, so that both will be cooked at the 
same moment. Strain and place on a flat fire- 
proof dish. Prepare some fat slices of bacon, 
toast them till crisp in the oven; pour the melted 
bacon-fat over the celery and potato, adding a 
dash of vinegar, and place the rashers on top. 
Serve hot. 

Leeks may be prepared in the same way. 

Cabbage with Sausages 

Cut a large cabbage in two, slice and wash, put 
it into boiling water with salt, and when partly 
cooked, add some potatoes cut into smallish 
pieces. Cook all together for about an hour; 
then drain. Put some fat in a saucepan, slice an 
onion, brown it in the fat, add the cabbage and 
potato, and stew all together for ten minutes ; then 
dish. Bake some sausages in the oven and dish 
them round the cabbage; serve hot. 

Another way (easier) 
Stew the cabbages, potato and sausages all to- 
gether and dish up neatly. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 13 

Leeks a la Liegeoise 

Take enough of leeks to make the size of dish, 
required; if they are very thick, cut in two length- 
wise; cut off the green tops; leaving only the 
blanched piece of stalk; put them into boiling 
salted water and cook thoroughly about one hour : 
strain and dish neatly on a fish-drainer. Have 
ready some hard-boiled eggs; shell them, cut in 
two, and place round the leeks; serve hot with 
melted butter, or cold with mayonnaise sauce. 

N. B. The water in which the leeks have been 
boiled makes a wholesome drink when cold, or a 
nourishing basis for a vegetable soup. 

[From Belgians at Dollarfield, N. B.~\ 

A Salad of Tomatoes 

To make a tomato salad you must not slice the 
fruit in a dish and then pour on it a little vinegar 
and then a little oil ; that is not salad — that is 
ignorance. 

Take some red tomatoes, and, if you can pro- 
cure them, some golden ones also. Plunge each 
for a moment in boiling water, peel off the skin, 
but carefully, so as not to cut through the flesh 
with the juice. Take some raw onion cut in 
slices ; if you do not like the strong taste, use shal- 
lot; and lay four or five flat slices on the bottom of 
the salad dish. Put the tomato slices over them, 



i 4 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

sprinkle with salt' and just a dust of castor sugar. 
In four hours lift the tomatoes and remove the 
onions altogether. Make in a cup the following 
sauce: Dissolve a salt-spoonful of salt in a tea- 
spoonful of tarragon vinegar. Stir in a dessert- 
spoonful of oil, dropping it slowly in, add a very 
little mustard, some pepper and a sprinkle of 
chopped chervil. Some people like chopped 
chives. Pour this over the tomato salad and leave 
it for an hour at least before serving it. 



Potatoes and Cheese 

Every one likes this nourishing dish, and it is a 
cheap one. Peel some potatoes and cut them in 
rounds. In a fireproof dish put a layer of these, 
sprinkle them with flour, grated cheese, pepper, 
salt, a few pats of butter. Then some more po- 
tatoes, and so on till the dish is full. Beat the 
yolks of two eggs in a pint of milk, add pepper and 
salt and pour it over the dish. Leave it on the 
top of the stove for five minutes, then cook it for 
half-an-hour in a moderate oven. Less time may 
be required if the dish is small, but the potatoes 
must be thoroughly cooked. The original recipe 
directs Gruyere cheese, but red or pale Canadian 
Cheddar could be used. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 15 

Friday's Feast 

Cook a medium cabbage till it is tender, and 
all the better if you can cook it in some soup. 
When tender, mince it and rub it through a sieve. 
Boil at the same time three pounds of chestnuts, 
skin them, keep ten whole, and rub the others 
through the sieve, adding a little milk to make a 
puree. Mix the puree with the cabbage, adding 
salt, pepper, and a lump of butter size of a chest- 
nut. Press it into a mold and cook it in a double 
saucepan for quarter of an hour. Take it out and 
decorate with the whole chestnuts. 

Red Cabbage 

Take half a red cabbage of medium size, chop it 
very finely and put it in a pan; add a little water, 
salt, and pepper, three or four potatoes cut in fine 
slices and five lumps of sugar. Let it all simmer 
for two hours with the lid on. Then take off the 
cover and let it reduce. Before serving it, add 
either a bit of fat pork or some gravy, with a 
dessert-spoonful of vinegar. Stir it well before 
sending it to table. [Mrs. Emelie Jones.] 

Asparagus a l'Anvers 

Clean a bunch of asparagus and cook it in salt 
water for fifteen minutes. To do this successfully, 



1 6 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

tie the bunch round with some tape and place it 
upright in a pan of boiling water. Let the heads 
be above the water so that they will get cooked by 
the steam and will not be broken. Simmer in this 
way to prevent them moving much. Meanwhile, 
hard-boil three eggs and chop some parsley. Lay 
the asparagus on a dish and sprinkle parsley over 
it, place round the sides the eggs cut in halves 
long-ways, and serve as well a sauce-boat of melted 
butter. [Mrs. Emelie Jones.] 



Cooked Lettuce 

Very often you will find that you cannot use all 
your lettuces, that they have begun to bolt and are 
no good for salad. This is the moment to cook 
them. Discard any bad leaves and wash the others 
carefully. Boil them for twelve minutes, take 
them off the fire, drain them and dry them in a 
clean cloth so as to get rid of all the water. Mince 
them finely, then put them into a saucepan with a 
lump of butter, pepper and salt. Stir till they 
begin to turn color, then put in a thimbleful of flour 
melted in milk. Stir constantly, and if the vege- 
table becomes dry, moisten with more flour and 
milk. Let it simmer for quarter of an hour, and 
turn it out as a vegetable with meat. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 17 

Stuffed Cauliflower 

Pick over a fine cauliflower, and plunge it for a 
moment in boiling water. Look over it well again 
and remove any grit or insects. Put it head down- 
wards in a pan when you have already placed a 
good slice of fat bacon at the bottom and sides. 
In the holes between the pan and the vegetable put 
a stuffing of minced meat, with breadcrumbs, yolks 
of eggs, mushrooms, seasoning of the usual kinds, 
in fact, a good forcemeat. Press this well in, and 
pour over it a thin gravy. Let it cook gently, and 
when the gravy on the top has disappeared put 
a dish on the top of the saucepan, turn it upside 
down and slip the cauliflower out. Serve very 
hot. 

Gourmands' Mushrooms 

There was a man in Ghent who loved mush- 
rooms, but he could only eat them done in this 
fashion. If you said, " Monsieur, will you have 
them tossed in butter? " he would roar out, " No 
— do you take me for a Prussian? Let me have 
them properly cooked." 

Melt in a pan a lump of butter the size of a 
tangerine orange and squeeze on it the juice of half 
a lemon. The way to get a great deal of juice 
from a lemon is to plunge it first of all for a few 



1 8 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

minutes, say five minutes, in boiling water. When 
the butter simmers, throw in a pound of picked 
small mushrooms, stir them constantly, do not let 
them get black. Then in three or four minutes 
they are well impregnated with butter, and the 
chief difficulty of the dish is over. Put the sauce- 
pan further on the fire, let it boil for a few min- 
utes. Take out the mushrooms, drain them, sprin- 
kle them with flour, moisten them with gravy, sea- 
son with salt and pepper, put them back in the 
butter and stir in the yolk of an egg. Add also a 
little of the lemon juice that remains. While you 
are doing this you must get another person to cut 
and toast some bread and to butter it. Pour on to 
the bread the mushrooms (which are fit for the 
greatest saints to eat on Fridays), and serve them 
very hot. 



Pommes Chateau 

Take twenty potatoes, turn them with a knife 
into olive shape, boil them in salted water for five 
minutes ; drain them and put them on a baking-tin 
with salt and butter or dripping. Cook them in a 
very hot oven for thirty minutes, moving them 
about from time to time. Sprinkle on a little 
chopped parsley before serving. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 19 

Chipped Potatoes 

Take some long-shaped potatoes, peel them and 
smooth them with the knife. Cut them into very 
thin rounds. 

Heat the grease pretty hot, dry the slices of po- 
tato with a cloth, put them into the frying basket 
and plunge them into the fat. When they are 
colored, take the basket out, let the fat heat up 
again to a slightly higher temperature, and re- 
plunge the basket, so that the slices become quite 
crisp. Serve with coarse salt sprinkled over. 

Chicory a la Ferdinand 

Boil and chop in medium-sized pieces the chicory, 
mince up a few chives according to your taste and 
heat both the vegetables in some cream, adding 
salt and pepper. Pour on a dish and decorate 
with chopped hard-boiled eggs. 

Apples and Sausages 

This dish comes from the French border of 
Belgium; it tastes better than you would think. 
Take a pound of beef sausages, and preferably use 
the small chipolata sausages. (What a delightful 
thing if the English would make other kinds of 
sausages as well as their beef and pork ones!) 
Fry then your sausages lightly in butter, look upon 
them as little beings for a few moments in purga- 



2o THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

tory before they are removed to heaven, among 
the apples. Keeping your sausages hot after they 
are fried, take a pound of brown pippin apples, 
pare them and core them. Cut them into neat 
rounds quarter of an inch thick, put them to cook 
in their liquor of the sausages (which you are 
keeping hot elsewhere) , and add butter to moisten 
them. Let them simmer gently so as to keep their 
shape. Put the apple-rings in the center of the 
dish, place the sausages round them. This dish 
uses a good deal of butter, but you must not use 
anything else for frying. 

Stuffed Chicory 

Make a mince of any cold white meat, such as 
veal, pork or chicken, and add to it some minced 
ham; sprinkle it with a thick white sauce. In 
the meantime the chicories should be cooking; tie 
each one round with a thread to keep them firm and 
boil them for ten minutes. When cooked, drain 
them well, open them lengthwise very carefully, 
and slip in a spoonful of the mince. Close them, 
keeping the leaves very neat, and, if necessary, tie 
them round again. Put them in a fire-proof dish 
with a lump of butter on each, and let them heat 
through. Serve them in their juice or with more 
of the white sauce, taking care to remove the 
threads. [Madame Limpens.] 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 21 

Tomatoes Stuffed with Beans 

Halve and empty the tomatoes, and put a few 
drops of vinegar in each. Cook your beans, 
whether French beans or haricots or flageolets, 
and stir them, when tender, into a good thick be- 
chamel sauce. Let this get cold. Empty out the 
vinegar from the tomatoes and fill them with the 
mixture, pouring over the top some mayonnaise 
sauce and parsley. [Madame van Praet.] 

Cabbage and Potatoes 

Boil the cabbages in salted water till tender. 
Chop them up. Brown an onion in butter, and 
add the cabbage, salt, pepper, and a little water. 
Slice some potatoes thickly, fry them, and serve 
the vegetable with cabbage in the center, and the 
fried potatoes laid round. 

[Mdlle. M. Schmidt, Antwerp.] 

Spinach a la Braconniere 

Cook two pounds of well-washed spinach; drain 
it, and pass it through a sieve ; or, failing a sieve, 
chop it very finely with butter, pepper and salt. 
Do not add milk, but let it remain somewhat firm. 
Make a thick bechamel sauce, sufficient to take up a 
quarter of a pound of grated Gruyere, and, if you 
wish, stir in the yolk of a raw egg. Lay in a 
circular dish half a pound of minced ham, pour 



22 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

round it the thick white sauce, and round that again 
the hot spinach. This makes a pretty dish, and it 
is not costly. [Mme. Braconniere.] 

A Dish of Haricot Beans 

Put the haricots to soak for six hours in cold 
water. Boil them in water with one carrot, one 
onion, salt, two cloves, a good pinch of dried herbs. 
Drain off the liquor from the haricots. Chop up a 
shallot, and fry it in butter ; add your haricots, with 
pepper and salt and tomato puree. Stir well, and 
serve with minced parsley scattered at the top. 

[Mme. Goffaux.] 

Potatoes in the Belgian Manner 

Take some slices of streaky bacon, about five 
inches long, and heat them in a pan. When the 
bacon is half-cooked, take it out of the pan and in 
the fat that remains behind fry some very finely- 
sliced onions till they are brown. When the 
onions are well browned, put them in a large pot, 
large enough for all the potatoes you wish to 
cook, adding pepper, salt, and a coffee-spoonful 
of sweet herbs dried and mixed, which in Eng- 
land replace the thyme and bay-leaves used in 
Belgium. Add sufficient water to cook the po- 
tatoes and your slices of bacon. Cook till tender. 

[ E. Wainard.] 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 23 

Tomatoes and Shrimps 
Lay on a dish some sliced tomatoes, taking out 
the seeds, and sprinkle them over with picked 
shrimps. Then pour over all a good mayonnaise 
sauce. For the sauce : Take the yolk of an egg 
and mix it with two soup-spoonfuls of salad oil 
that you must pass in very gently and very little at 
a time. Melt a good pinch of salt in a teaspoon- 
ful of vinegar (tarragon vinegar, if you have 
it) ; add pepper and a small quantity of made mus- 
tard. In making this sauce be sure to stir it al- 
ways the same way. It will take about half-an- 
hour to make it properly. [Paquerette.] 

Flemish Endive 
Choose twelve endives that are short and neat; 
cut off the outside leaves and pare the bottom; 
wash them in plenty of water, and cook them in 
simmering water for three minutes. Then take 
them from the water and place them in a well- 
buttered frying-pan, dust them with salt and also 
with a pinch of sugar. Add the juice of half a 
lemon, and rather less than a pint of water. 
Place the pan on the fire for two or three minutes 
to start the cooking, then cover it closely, and 
finish the cooking by placing it in the oven for 
fifty minutes. Take out the endives and put them 
in the vegetable-dish and pour over them the 



24 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

liquor in which they have been cooked. This 
liquor is improved by being reduced, and when off 
the fire, by having a small piece of butter added 
to it. 

The above recipe can be used for chicory as 
well as for endive. [/. Kirckaert.] 

Cauliflower and Shrimps 

Take a cauliflower and cut off the green part, 
and wash it several times in salted water. Boil it 
gently till cooked, taking care that it remains 
whole. Put it aside to cool, and when it is quite 
cold make a hole in the center down to the bottom. 
Pick some shrimps till you have half a pint of 
them, make a good mayonnaise and, taking half 
of it, mix it with the shrimps. Fill the hole in 
the cauliflower with the shrimps and sauce, and 
pour the rest of the sauce over the top of the 
cauliflower. 

This dish is to be served very cold. 

[E. Defouck.'] 

Belgian Carrots 

Clean well the carrots, cut them in dice, and 
wash them well. Put them on the fire with 
enough water to cover them, a bit of butter, an 
onion well minced, salt and pepper and a dessert- 
spoonful of powdered sugar. Place the dish in 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 25 

the oven for at least an hour, and, when you serve 
it, sprinkle over the carrots some minced parsley. 

[Gabrielle Janssens.] 

Stuffed Tomatoes 

Take ten good tomatoes and cut off the tops, 
which are to serve as lids. Remove the insides, 
and fill with the following mixture: minced veal 
and ham, rather more veal than ham, mushrooms 
tossed in butter, a little breadcrumb, milk to ren- 
der it moist, pepper and salt. Put on the covers 
and add on each one a scrap of butter. Bake 
them gently in a fireproof dish. The following 
excellent sauce is poured over them five minutes 
before taking them out of the oven: Use any 
stock that you have, preferably veal, adding the 
insides of the tomatoes, pepper and salt; pass this 
through the wire sieve. Make a roux — that is, 
melt some butter in a pan, adding flour little by 
little and stirring until it goes a brown color. 
Add to it then your tomatoes that have been 
through the sieve, and some more fried mush- 
rooms. Pour this sauce over the whole and serve 
very hot. [Mine, van Praet.~\ 

Red Cabbage 

Mince the cabbage and put it in a pan with 
plenty of refined fat (clarified fat) and two or 



26 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

three large potatoes, pepper and salt. Add suffi- 
cient water to cover it, with a dash of vinegar and 
six dessert-spoonfuls of brown or moist sugar. 
Let it simmer for four hours, drain it and serve 
cold. [Mme. Segers.] 

Vegetable Salad 

The special point of this dish is that peas, beans, 
carrots in dice, are all cooked separately and when 
they are cold they are placed in a large dish with- 
out being mixed. Decorate with the hearts of let- 
tuce round the edge and with slices of tomato, and 
pour over it, or hand with it, a good mayonnaise. 

[Mme. van Praet.] 

Chicory 

This excellent vegetable can be dressed either 
in a bechamel sauce, or with butter and lemon- 
juice. It is gently stewed, first of all, and it re- 
quires pepper and salt. The sauces can be varied 
with tomato, or with some of the good English 
bottled sauces stirred with the bechamel. 

[Mme. van Praet.'] 

Cauliflower a la Reine Elizabeth 

Simmer the cauliflowers till tender. Prepare a 
mince of veal and pork, and season it well with a 
little spice. Butter a mold and fill it with alter- 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 27 

nate layer's of mince and of cauliflower broken in 
small pieces. Fill a large saucepan three-quarters 
full of boiling water and place the mold in this; 
let it cook for one hour in this way over the fire ; 
turn it out and pour a spinach sauce over it. 

[Mtne. van Praet.] 

Mushrooms a la Spinette 

Make some puff pastry cases, wash and chop 
the mushrooms and toss them in butter to which 
you have added a slice of lemon. Make a be- 
chamel sauce with cream, or, failing that, with 
thick tinned cream, and mix with the mushrooms. 
Heat the cases for a few minutes in the oven and 
fill them with the hot mixture. 

\Mme. Spinette. ~\ 

Dressed Cauliflower 

Simmer a cauliflower till it is tender. Pour out 
the liquor, and add to it a bit of butter, the size of 
a nut, rolled in flour, a pinch of nutmeg, a table- 
spoonful of Gruyere cheese and a little milk. 
Bind the sauce with a little feculina flour. At the 
moment of serving, pour the sauce over the cauli- 
flower, which you have placed upright on a dish. 
The nutmeg and the cheese are indispensable to 
this dish. [V. Ferachtert.] 



28i THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Brussels Sprouts 

(The best way to cook them) 

Having cleaned and trimmed your sprouts, let 
them simmer in salted water, to which you have 
also added a little soda to preserve the color. 
Or, if you do not like to add soda, keep the pan 
firmly covered by the lid. When tender, take 
them out and let them drain, place them in another 
pan with a good lump of butter or fat; stir, so as 
to let the butter melt at once, and sprinkle in pep- 
per and a tiny pinch of nutmeg. 

[Mdlle. Germaine Verstraete.'] 

Ragout of Mutton 

Fry the mutton very well. Then place in an- 
other pan sufficient water to cover your mutton, 
adding pepper, salt, a little nutmeg, a celery, and 
a few white turnips cut in pieces. When they are 
well cooked, add the meat and let all simmer for 
two hours. \V. Verachtert.'] 

Stewed Shoulder of Mutton 

Put in a pan a large lump of butter or clarified 
fat, and place the shoulder in it. Add two big 
onions sliced, and a very large carrot also sliced, 
thyme, bay-leaf, two cloves, pepper and salt, and, 
if you like it, two garlic knobs. Let the shoulder 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 29 

simmer in this by the side of the fire for three 
hours. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, and 
then add to it either a glass of good red wine or a 
little made mustard with a teaspoonful of brown 
sugar. [Mine. Segers.] 

Shoulder of Mutton 

Put a handful of dried white haricots to soak 
over-night and simmer them the following day for 
two hours with some salt. Rub your shoulder of 
mutton with a little bit of garlic before putting it 
in the oven to cook, and when it is done, serve 
with the haricots round it, to which have been 
added a pat or two of butter. [V. Verachtert.] 

Mutton Collops 

Take some slices of roast or boiled leg of mut- 
ton, egg them, and roll in a mixture of bread- 
crumbs, salt, pepper, and a little flower. Fry till 
the slices are brown on each side; serve with 
chipped potatoes. 

Shoulder of Mutton Dressed Like Kid 

My readers have probably tasted a shoulder of 
kid dressed as mutton. Let them therefore try 
the converse of the dish, and, if they really take 
trouble with it, they will have a dinner of the 
most delicious. Put into a deep dish that will 



30 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

hold your shoulder of mutton the following mix- 
ture: 

A cupful each of oil, vinegar, white wine, red 
wine, an onion stuffed with cloves, a bunch of 
herbs which must be fresh ones — thyme, parsley, 
marjoram, sage, a tiny bit of mint, a few bay- 
leaves — two medium carrots cut in slices. Put 
the shoulder of mutton in this mixture and keep it 
there for four days, turning it every now and 
then and pouring the mixture on it. On the fifth 
day take it out, and, if you care to take the trouble, 
you will improve it by larding the meat here and 
there. Put it to roast in front of a good fire, 
with your liquor, which serves to baste it with, in 
a pan beneath. If you cannot arrange to hang 
the mutton by a string to turn like a roasting jack, 
then bake it, and continually baste it. A small 
shoulder is most successful. For one of four 
pounds bake for fifty minutes. 

Roast Rump of Beef, Bordelaise Sauce 

Take three pounds of the rump of beef, put it 
into a pretty deep pan upon one onion, one sliced 
carrot, some thyme, and a bay-leaf, three table- 
spoonfuls of dripping, salt, and peppr. Put it on 
the top of the fire, and when it comes fully to the 
boil, put it to the side, and allow it to simmer 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 31 

nicely for an hour and a half. Dress it on a 
dish and serve the sauce separately. 

Roasted Fillet of Beef 

About three pounds of fillet of beet roasted in a 
good hot oven for forty minutes; let it be rather 
underdone. Take three turnips, four good-sized 
carrots, cut them into jardiniere slices. Cook 
them separately in salted water, drain them and 
add salt, pepper, a tiny pinch of sugar and one 
dessert-spoonful of butter. Dress the fillet on a 
long dish with the garniture of carrots and turnips, 
and some artichoke-bottoms cooked in water and 
finished with butter, also add some potatoes 
chateau. Be sure the dish is very hot. Put a 
little water, or, for choice, clear stock, upon the 
roasting-dish and pour it over the fillet. 

Beef a la Bourguignonne 

Braise three pounds of beef upon twenty little 
onions, ten mushrooms, and two glasses of red 
wine, salt, pepper, thyme and bay-leaf; cook for 
one and one-half hours with not too hot a fire. 
After that, place the beef on an oval dish; keep 
it hot; stir two tablespoonfuls of demi-glaze into 
the vegetables and let it boil up. Cut some slices 
of the beef, and strain the sauce over all. 



32 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Ox-Tongue a la Bourgeoise 

Braise a tongue with two glasses of Madeira, 
one carrot, one onion, thyme, bay-leaf, for two 
hours. Take seven tomatoes cut in pieces, four 
carrots cut in two and three in four, about one- 
half inch long, ten smallish onions, and braise 
them all together; then add two large table-spoon- 
fuls of demi-glaze, some salt and pepper. Serve 
all very hot on an oval dish. 

Braised tongue eats very well with spinach, car- 
rots or sorrel. 

Beef a la mode 

Take the raw beef, either rump-steak or fillet, 
and brown it in the pan in some butter. Then 
add a litle boiling water. Add then six or eight 
chopped shallots, the hearts of two celeries 
chopped, a few small and whole carrots, pepper, 
salt, two cloves. Before serving, bind the sauce 
with a little flour and pour all over the meat. 

[V. Ferachtert.] 

Bceuf a la Flamande 

For this national dish that part of the animal 
called the " spiering " is used, which is cut from 
near the neck. What is called fresh silverside in 
England answers very well. Cut the beef into 
slices about half-an-inch thick and divide the slices 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 33 

into four pieces. This you can do with a piece 
of four pounds. For a piece of four pounds, cook 
first of all four large fried onions in fat. Put the 
beef in the hot fat when the onions are colored, 
and saute it ; that is, keep moving the meat about 
gently. Take the meat out and place it on a dish. 
Add to the fat two dessert-spoonsful of flour and 
let it cook gently for five minutes, adding a good 
pint of water. Pass the sauce through a tammy, 
over the onions, and put the meat back in it, and 
it ought to cover them. Then add a dessert- 
spoonful of good vinegar and a strong bunch of 
herbs. Stew for an hour, take off the fat and re- 
move the bunch of herbs. Heat up again and 
serve. 

Caretaker's Beef 

The real name of this dish is Miroton de la 
Concierge, and it is currently held that only con- 
cierges can do it to perfection. Put a handful of 
minced onion to fry in butter; when it is nearly 
coked, but not quite, add a dessert-spoonful of 
flour, and stir it till all is well colored. Pour on 
it a little gravy, or meat-juice of some kind, and 
let it simmer for ten minutes after it begins to 
steam again. Then take your beef, which must be 
cold, and cut in small slices; throw them in and 
let it all cook for a quarter of an hour, only sim- 



34 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

mering, and constantly stirring it, so that though 
it becomes considerably reduced it does not stick 
to the pan. 

Blankenberg Beef 

This is a winter dish; it is most sustaining, and 
once made, it can be kept hot for hours without 
spoiling. Make a puree of lentils or peas, and 
season it with pepper and salt. Mince your beef 
with an equal quantity of peeled chestnuts, add 
chopped parsley, a dust of nutmeg or a few cloves. 
If you have any cheap red wine pour it over the 
mince till it is well moistened. If you have no 
red wine, use gravy. If you have no gravy, use 
milk. Let all heat up in the oven for ten minutes, 
then sprinkle in some currants or sultanas. Take 
the dish you wish to serve it in, put the stew in the 
middle, and place the puree round it. If the 
mince is moist it can be kept by the fire till re- 
quired, or the dish can be covered with another 
one and placed in a carrying-can, taken out to skat- 
ing or shooting parties. 

Veal with Tomatoes 

Grill some slices of fat veal; cook some sliced 
tomatoes with butter, pepper and salt, on a flat 
dish in a pretty quick oven. Garnish the veal 
with the tomatoes laid on top of each slice, and 



THE BELGIAN COOE BOOK 35 

pour maitre-d' hotel butter over, made with butter, 
salt, chopped parsley, and lemon-juice. (See p. 
42.) 

Fricandeau of Veal 

A fillet of veal, larded with fat bacon, of about 
three pounds. Braise it one and one-half hours 
on a moderate fire. Dish with its own gravy. 
This eats well with spinach, endive, sorrel or car- 
rots. 

Veal Cutlets with Madeira Sauce 

are garnished with potatoes and mushrooms, and 
the sauce is made of demi-glaze and madeira, 
worked up with butter, pepper, salt and chopped 
parsley. 

Grenadins of Veal 

Cut your veal into fairly thick cutlets, lard them 
with fat bacon, and braise them in the oven, with 
salt, pepper and butter. Dish up, and rinse the 
pot with a little stock, and pour it on the meat 
ready to serve. 

Calf's Liver a la Bourgeoise 

Take a calf's liver, lard it with fat bacon, braise 
it with the bourgeoise garnish — carrots and tur- 
nips. After it is cooked and dished, stir some 
demi-glaze into the sauce, pour it on to the meat 
and garnish with potatoes chateau. 



36 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Veal with Mushrooms, or the Calf in Paradise 

Take some slices of loin of veal, fry them in but- 
ter, with pepper and salt, for twenty minutes. 
Take two spoonfuls of demi-glaze and heat it with 
some mushrooms and a little madeira. Put the 
mushrooms and sauce on each slice and sprinkle 
chopped parsley over all. 

This can also be done with fines herbes, mush- 
rooms, chervil and parsley, chopped before cook- 
ing them in the butter. 

Blanquette of Veal 

Take your veal, which need not be from the 
fillet or the best cuts. Cut it into pieces about an 
inch long and add a little water when putting it 
into the pan; salt, pepper and a little nutmeg, and 
let it simmer for two hours. When tender, stir in 
the juice of half a lemon, and then bind the sauce 
with the yolk of an egg, or, in default of that, with 
a little flour. Serve immediately. You will find 
that when you wish to bind a sauce at the last 
minute, egg powder will serve very well. 

\V. Verachtert.'] 

Veal Cake, excellent for Supper 

Take some chopped veal and with it an equal 
quantity of chopped beef, and one-quarter the 
quantity of breadcrumbs from a fresh loaf. Bind 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 37 

all with a raw egg, adding salt and pepper, and, if 
wished, some blanched and chopped almonds. 
(Put a large piece of butter both above and be- 
low.) Shape the meat into the form of a loaf 
and put it in a dish, with a large slice of butter 
above and below it. Cook it for about half-an- 
hour. [Mme. Gabrielle Janssens.] 

Breast of Veal 

(A good and inexpensive dish) 
Cook the breast of veal in stock or in a little 
meat extract and water, with sliced carrots and 
onions, thyme, pepper, salt, three bay-leaves and 
three cloves. Let it stew for one hour in this, and 
then take it out. Take out also the vegetables, 
and strain the liquor. Make a bechamel sauce 
and add it to the liquor, giving it all a sharp taste 
with the juice of half a lemon. Put back the 
breast of veal in this sauce and when hot again 
serve them together. [Mdlle. Spinette.] 

Ox Tongue 

Cook the ox tongue in stock or in meat extract 
and water. Make the hunters' sauce, as for a 
hare, but sprinkle into it some chopped sultanas. 
Take the tongue out of the stock and skin it, cut 
it in neat pieces if you wish, and let it heat in your 
sauce. [Mdlle. Spinette.] 



38 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Veal a la Milanaise 

Egg and breadcrumb some thick slices of veal; 
fry and garnish with boiled macaroni cut in small 
pieces, with ham, mushrooms, truffles, all cut in 
Julienne strips, pepper, salt, and a little tomato 
sauce. Mix all these well together, and serve very 
hot. 

Stuffed Veal Liver, or Liver a la Panier d'Or 

The Panier d'Or is a hotel in Bruges, much fre- 
quented before the war by the English. 

Take the yolk of a hard-boiled egg, a bit of 
bread the same size, and crumble them together; 
rub in some chopped parsley and onion and moisten 
it with gravy or with milk; season highly with salt, 
cayenne, and a little vinegar or mustard. Take 
your liver, if possible in one rather large flat slice. 
Make deep cuts in it, parallel to each other, and 
lying closely together. Press your stuffing into 
these cuts. Put a bit of butter the size of a wal- 
nut into a pan, or fireproof dish. Take your liver 
and tie it round with a slice of fat bacon or fat 
pork. Lay it in the dish and let it cook for an 
hour in a moderate oven. When done, remove 
the slice of bacon, if there is any left, and serve the 
liver in its own juice. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 39 

Veal a la Creme 

Take a piece of veal suitable for roasting, and 
put it in vinegar for twenty-four hours. 

Roast it with butter, pepper and salt, with a few 
slices of onion. Baste it well, and when it is fin- 
ished crush the onions in the gravy and add some 
cream. Mix together with flour so as to thicken. 

[Mdlle. Spreakers.~\ 

This is the demi-glaze Sauce which is used for all 
brown Sauces, 

Take one pound of flour, dry it in the oven on a 
tray till it is the color of cocoa ; pass it through a 
sieve into a saucepan, moisten it with stock, mixing 
very carefully. Boil it up two or three times dur- 
ing forty-eight hours, adding two carrots, two on- 
ions, thyme, bay, all cut up, which you have colored 
in the frying-pan, also some salt and peppercorns. 
When it is all cooked, pass it through a cloth or 
sieve. When it is reduced the first time, you 
should add some stock, but by the time it is fin- 
ished it should be fairly thick. It will keep for a 
fortnight. [G. Goffaux.] 

Dutch Sauce for Fish 

Take a tablespoonful of flour and three of 
water ; make it boil and add the yolks of three eggs ; 



4 o THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

melt one-half pound of butter and beat it gently 
into your first mixture, add salt, the juice of half 
a lemon and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Keep the 
sauce very hot in a bain-marie or in a double sauce- 
pan. If you have neither, keep it in a large cup 
placed in a saucepan of hot water. 

[Mrs. Emelie Jones.~\ 

Bearnaise Sauce 
(Very good with stewed meat) 
Put some onions to cook in tarragon vinegar and 
water; when they are half done, add more water 
and throw in a little thyme and a leaf or two of 
bay; let it cook for one hour and pass it through 
a sieve. Melt some butter in a pan and thicken it 
with flour; put your vinegar to it and more water 
if you think it necessary; stir in salt and pepper 
and the yolks of two eggs or more, according to 
the quantity that you wish to make. Let it get 
thick, and just as you take it off the lire add a 
sprinkle of chopped parsley and a pat of butter. 
This is a useful sauce and it well repays the trouble. 

[Mme. Spinette.] 

Muslin Sauce 

Melt a piece of butter the size of an egg, 
sprinkle and stir in some flour, adding water if it 
becomes too thick. Keep stirring over the fire for 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 41 

five minutes, and, still stirring, add pepper and salt 
and the yolks of two eggs. You may add the 
yolks of three or four eggs if you wish for a rich 
sauce. The last item is the juice of a lemon to 
your taste. This is a very popular addition to 
meat. [Mme. Spinette.~\ 

Sauce Bordelaise 

Two shallots, ten tarragon leaves all chopped, 
are put into a very small saucepan. Add a large 
glass of claret, a dessert-spoonful of butter, and let 
it all reduce together. Add salt, pepper, three 
dessert-spoonfuls of demi-glaze, let it come to the 
boil, and stir in two dessert-spoonfuls of butter. 

[Georges Goffaux.] 

Poor Man's Sauce 

Even a piece of meat of poor quality is much 
liked if it has the following sauce poured over it 
when served. Put a little milk, say a cupful, in a 
saucepan, with salt and pepper; let it heat. Chop 
up a handful of shallots and a quarter as much of 
parsley that is well washed. Throw them into the 
milk; let it boil, and when the shallots are tender 
the sauce is ready. If you have no milk, use 
water; but in that case let it be strongly flavored 
with vinegar. 



4 2 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

The Good Wife's Sauce 

This sauce is indispensable to any one who 
wishes to use up slices of cold mutton. Trim your 
slices, take away skin and fat and pour on them the 
following cold sauce. Hard-boil three eggs, let 
them get cold. Crumble the yolks in a cup, add- 
ing slowly a tablespoonful of oil, salt, pepper, a 
little mustard, a teaspoonful of vinegar; then chop 
the whites of egg, with a scrap of onion, and if you 
have them, some capers. Mix all together and 
pour it over the cold meat. 

Cream Sauce 

Roll a lump of butter in flour, put it in a pan 
on the fire, and as it melts add pepper and salt. 
Stir it, and as it thickens add a little milk; let it 
simmer and keep on stirring it. You will never 
get a good white sauce unless you season it well 
and let it simmer for a quarter of an hour. Strain 
it, heat it again, and serve it for fish, potatoes, 
chicken. 

Sauce Maitre d'Hotel 

Every one likes this sauce for either meat or 
fish. In a double saucepan melt a lump of butter, 
flavor it with salt, pepper, some minced parsley 
that you had first rubbed on a raw slice of onion, 
and some lemon-juice. Use vinegar instead of 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 43 

the lemon if you wish, but do not forget that it 
does not require so much vinegar. Mix it with a 
fork and serve it warm; do not let it bubble. 

Sauce au Diable 
(For cold meats) 
Take a shallot or two, according to quantity of 
sauce needed, slice very finely, shred a little pars- 
ley, put both into the sauce-boat, with salt, pepper, 
and mustard to taste ; add oil and vinegar in pro- 
portion of one dessert-spoonful of vinegar to two 
table-spoonfuls of oil, till sufficient quantity. 

Fricassee of Pigeons 

Put your pieces of pigeon into a stew-pan in 
butter, and let it cook with the pigeons. Then 
add one carrot, two onions, two sprigs of parsley, 
a leaf of sage, five juniper berries, and a very little 
nutmeg. Stir it all for a few minutes, and then, 
and only then, add a half-cupful of water and 
Liebig, two rusks or dry biscuits in pieces, the 
juice of a lemon. Put it all on the side of the fire, 
cover the saucepan and let it cook gently for an 
hour and a half. [Afro*. Vandervalle.'] 

Hunter's Hare 

Cut the hare in pieces and cook it in the oven in 
butter, pepper and salt, turning it now and then so 



44 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

that it does not get dry. Then prepare Hunter's 
Sauce. Melt a bit of butter the size of an egg 
and add flour, letting it brown, fry in it plenty of 
chopped onions and shallots, adding tarragon 
vinegar, cayenne and pepper-corns ; spice it highly 
with nutmeg, three cloves, a sprig of thyme and a 
couple of bay-leaves. Chop up the hare liver, put 
it in the sauce and pass all through the sieve. 
Pour the sauce over the hare and add a good glass 
of claret, or, for English tastes, of port wine. If 
the sauce is too thin, thicken it with flour, and 
serve all together. [Mme. Spinette.] 

Flemish Rabbit 

Cut the rabbit into neat pieces. Put them into 
a deep frying-pan and toss them in butter, so that 
each piece is well browned without burning the but- 
ter. Take them out of the pan and in the same 
butter cook six shallots (finely minced) till they 
are brown. Then return the rabbit to the pan, 
seasoning all with salt and pepper, adding as well 
three bay-leaves, two cloves, and two white pep- 
pers. If you have any gravy, add a pint of it, but 
in default of gravy add the same quantity of Bov- 
ril and water. Place on the fire till it boils, when 
draw it to the side and let it cook there gently for 
three-quarters of an hour. Just when it is nearly 
done, add a little vinegar, more or less according 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 45 

to your taste. This is served with boiled and 
well-drained potatoes. If the sauce is not thick 
enough, add to it a little flour which has been first 
mixed with some cold water. 

[Georges Kerckeert.~\ 

Roast Kid with Venison Sauce 

This dish is very excellent with mutton instead 
of kid; the meat tastes like venison if this recipe is 
followed : 

Put the meat, say a shoulder of mutton, to soak 
in a bottle of red wine, with a sliced carrot, thyme, 
bay-leaves (4), six cloves, fifteen peppercorns and 
a teaspoonful of vinegar, for two hours. Then 
bring the liquor to the boil and just before it is 
boiling pour it over and over the meat. Do this 
pouring over of hot liquor for two days. Then 
put the meat in the oven with butter, pepper, and 
salt, till it is cooked. 

Sauce: Brown some onions in butter and pour 
in your liquor, but without the carrot. Let it 
simmer for three-quarters of an hour, and pour it 
through a sieve. Roll a nut of butter in flour and 
add little by little the liquor you have from the 
meat, then a coffee-spoonful of meat extract and 
two lumps of sugar. This sauce ought to be quite 
thick. It is served with the meat. 

[Mme* Vandervalle.'\ 



46 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Baked Rabbit 

Fry the pieces of rabbit, adding three onions, 
two medium potatoes, half a glass of beer, a little 
water or stock, pepper and salt. Let it all bake 
gently in an earthenware pot for two hours, and 
then thicken the same with flour. It is an im- 
provement to add when it is being cooked two 
cloves, two bay-leaves, a pinch of nutmeg, and any 
fresh herbs, such as thyme, parsley, mint. 

\Mme. E. Maes.] 

Chicken a la Max 

Chop up some cold chicken into small squares, 
mix with a thick white sauce, and let it heat. Put 
it on a hot dish and cover with fried onions. Put 
chipped potatoes at the ends of the dish and a 
boiled chicory at either side. This excellent dish 
has received distinction also from its name, that 
of the heroic and ingenious burgomaster of Brus- 
sels. [M. Stuart.] 

Rabbit a la Bordelaise 

Cut a rabbit into joints, cover with vinegar, 
chop finely two small onions, thyme, pepper, and 
salt, and a little grated nutmeg; let all soak for 
twenty-four hours. 

Take out the joints and brown gently in a little 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 47 

dripping; when all are nicely browned take one 
cupful of the marmalade and stew till tender one 
and a half to two hours. When ready, strain off 
the sauce, thicken nicely with flour, dish the rabbit, 
and pour over the sauce. 

Laeken Rabbit 

Take a medium-sized rabbit, and have it pre- 
pared and cut into joints. Put the pieces to soak 
for forty-eight hours in vinegar, enough to cover 
them, with a sprinkle of fresh thyme in it and a 
small onion sliced finely. After forty-eight hours, 
put one-quarter pound of fat bacon, sliced, in a 
pan to melt, and when it has melted, take out any 
bits that remain, and add to the melted bacon a 
bit of butter as big as an egg, which let melt till 
it froths; secondly, sprinkle in a dessert-spoonful 
of flour. Stir it over the fire, mixing well till the 
sauce becomes brown, and then put in your mari- 
naded pieces of rabbit. Add pepper and salt and 
cook till each piece is well colored on each side. 
When they are well colored, add then the bunch of 
thyme, the sliced onion and half the vinegar that 
you used for soaking; three bay-leaves, one dozen 
dried and dry prunes, five lumps of sugar, half a 
pint of water. Cover closely and let it simmer 
for two hours and a half. 

\_A Belgian at Droitwich.] 



4 8 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Rabbit 

Put the back and the hind legs of one or two 
rabbits in an oven, covering the same first with a 
layer of butter (half inch thick) and then with a 
layer of French mustard, pepper and salt. Roast 
by a good fire for one hour, baste often with the 
juice from the meat and the gravy. 

Hare 

To be put in a pan in the oven: sauce, butter, 
and a quarter of a pint of cream, pepper, salt and 
some flour to thicken the sauce. Before the hare 
is put in the oven, cover it with a thin piece of 
bacon, which must be taken away before the hare 
is brought to table. [Mdlle. Breakers.] 

Rum Omelette 

This simple dish is much liked by gentlemen. 
Break five eggs in a basin, sweeten them with cas- 
tor sugar, pour in a sherry glassful of rum. Beat 
them very hard till they froth. Put a bit of fresh 
butter in a shallow pan and pour in your eggs. 
Let it stay on the fire just three minutes and then 
slip it off on to a hot dish. Powder it with sugar, 
as you take it to the dining-room. At the dining- 
room door, set a light to a big spoonful of rum and 
pour it over the omelette just as you go in. It is 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 49 

almost impossible to light a glass of rum in a 
hurry, for your omelette, so use a kitchen spoon. 

The Children's Birthday Dish 

Boil up a quart of milk, sweeten it with nearly 
half a pound of sugar, and flavor with vanilla. 
Let it get cold. Beat up six eggs, both yolks and 
whites, mix them with the milk, put it all in a fire- 
proof dish and cook very gently. Cover the top 
before you serve it with ratafia biscuits. 

A Frangipani 

Put your saucepan on the table and break in it 
two eggs. Mix these with two dessert-spoonfuls 
of flour. Add a pint of milk, and put it on the 
fire, stirring always one way. Let it cook for a 
quarter of an hour, stirring with one hand, while 
with the other sprinkle in powdered sugar and 
ground almonds. Turn out to get cold, and cut 
in squares. 

Apricot Souffle 

This is good enough even for an English " din- 
ner-party." Beat the whites of six eggs stiffly. 
Take four dessert-spoonfuls of apricot jam, or an 
equal quantity of those dried apricots that have 
been soaked and stewed to a puree. If you use 



50 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

jam, you need not add sugar. If you use the dried 
apricots, add sugar to sweeten. Butter a dish at 
the bottom, and when you have well mixed with a 
fork the beaten whites and the apricot, put it in a 
pyramid on the dish and bake for fifteen minutes 
in a moderate over. Powder with sugar. 

Stewed Prunes 

Prunes are very good done this way. Take a 
pound of prunes, soak them twenty-four hours in 
water. Put them on the fire in a cupful of water 
and half a bottle of light red wine, quarter of a 
pound of sugar and, if you like it, a pinch of cinna- 
mon or mixed spice. Let it all stew till the liquor 
is much reduced and the prunes are well flavored. 
Let them get cold, and serve them in a glass dish 
with whipped cream. 

Chocolate Cream 

Take the whites of six eggs and beat them 
stiff, doing first one and then another, adding to 
them three soup-spoonfuls of powdered sugar and 
three sticks of chocolate that you have grated. 
If you have powdered chocolate by you, use that, 
and taste the mixture to judge when it is well 
flavored. Mix it all well in a cool place. To do 
this dish successfully, make it just before you wish 
to serve it. [Mdlle. Lust, of Brussels.] 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 51 

Semolina Souffle 

Boil up two pints of milk and fifteen lumps of 
sugar with a bit of vanilla. Add three soup- 
spoonfuls of semolina, and let it boil for fifteen 
minutes, while you stir it. Take it from the fire, 
and add to it the yolks of two eggs and their 
whites that you have beaten stiffly. Put it in the 
oven for a quarter of an hour, and serve it hot. 
[Mdlle. Lust, of Brussels. ] 

Snowy Mountains 

Butter six circular rusks, and put on them a 
layer of jam. Beat the whites of three eggs and 
place them on the rusks in the shape of pyamide. 
Put them in the oven and color a little. They 
must be served hot. 

\Mdlle. Lust y of Brussels.] 

Richelieu Rice 

Put three soup-spoonfuls of Carolina rice to 
swell in a little water, with a pat of butter. When 
the rise has absorbed all the water, add a pint 
of milk, sugar to sweeten, a few raisins, some 
chopped orange-peel, and some crystallized cher- 
ries, or any other preserved fruit. Put all on the 
fire, and when the mixture is cooked the rice ought 
to be creamy. Add the yolk of an egg, stir it 
well, and pour all into a mold. Put it to cool. 



5 2 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Turn it out, and serve it with the following sauce, 
which must be poured on the shape. 

A pint of milk, sugar, and vanilla; let it boil. 
Stir a soup-spoonful of cornflour in water till it is 
smooth, mix it with the boiling milk, let it boil 
while stirring it for a few minutes, take it from the 
fire, add the yolk of an egg, and pour it on the 
rice shape. Serve when cold. 

[Mdlle. Lust, of Brussels. 

Excellent Paste for Pastry 

Equal quantities of butter and flour, well mixed 
in a little beer; add also a pinch of salt. Make 
this paste the day before you require it; it is good 
for little patties and tarts. 

[Mdlle. Le Kent.] 

Chocolate Cream 

(No. 2) 
Melt four penny tablets of chocolate in hot milk 
until it is liquid and without lumps. Boil up a 
pint of milk with a stick of vanilla, a big lump of 
butter (size of a walnut) and ten lumps of sugar. 
When this boils, add the chocolate and keep stir- 
ring continually. Then take the yolks of three 
eggs and well beat them; it is better to have these 
beaten before, so as not to interfere with the stir- 
ring of your mixture. Add your three yolks and 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 53 

keep on stirring, always in the same way. Then 
pour the mixture into a mold that has been rinsed 
out in very cold water, and let it stand in a cool 
place till set. [Mrs. Emelie Jones.] 

Belgian Gingerbread 

y 2 pound cornflour 

y pound butter 

y A pound white sugar 

I or 2 eggs 

y 2 ounce ginger powder. 

Work all the ingredients together on a marble 
slab, to get the paste all of the same consistency. 
Make it into balls as big as walnuts, flattening 
them slightly before putting them into the oven. 
This sort of gingerbread keeps very well. 

[L. L. B. d'Anvers.] 

Apple Fritters 
Put half pound of flour in a deep dish and work 
it with beer, beating it well till there are no lumps 
left. Make it into a paste that is not very liquid. 
Peel and core some good apples, cut them into 
rounds, put them in the paste so that each one is 
well covered with it. Have a pan of boiling fat 
and throw in the apple slices for two minutes. 
They ought to be golden by then, if that fat has 



54 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

been hot enough. Serve them dusted with pow- 
dered sugar and the juice of half a lemon squeezed 
on them. \Mme, Delahaye.] 

Four Quarters 

Weigh four very fresh eggs and put them in an 
earthenware dish. Add successively, sieved flour, 
fine sugar, and fresh butter, each one of these items 
being of the same weight of the eggs — hence the 
name: Four Quarters. With a wooden spoon, 
jvvork these four ingredients, then let them rest 
for five minutes. Turn it all into a buttered mold 
and let it cook for five quarters of an hour in a 
gentle oven or in a double saucepan. Turn it out, 
and eat it either cold or hot and with fruit. 

[Georges Kerckaert~\ 

Saffron Rice 

Wash the rice in cold water, heat it in a little 
water and add a dust of salt. Flavor some milk 
(enough to cover the rice) with vanilla, and pour 
it on the rice. Let it cook in the oven for an 
hour and a quarter. Take it from the fire, and 
stir in the yolks only of two eggs, or of one only, 
if wished. Sweeten the whole with sugar, and 
color it with a little saffron. Turn it out, and let 
it get very cold. [Paquerette.] 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK SS 
Semolina Fritters 
Quarter pound semolina, one and a half pints of 
milk, three eggs. Put on the milk, and, as soon as 
it is boiling, drop the semolina in, in a shower. 
Let it boil for a few minutes, stirring continually. 
Then add the yolks of three eggs, and then the 
whites, which you have already beaten stiff. Pour 
all on a dish, and cool. Have some boiling lard 
(it is boiling when it ceases to bubble) , and throw 
into it spoonsful of the mixture. When they are 
fried golden, take them out, drain them a moment, 
and sprinkle on some white sugar. 

\Mme. Segers.~\ 

Speculoos 
(A Brussels recipe) 
Pound down half pound flour, four ounces 
brown sugar, three and a half ounces butter, a 
pinch of nutmeg, and the same of mace and cinna- 
mon in powder. Add, as well, a pinch of bicar- 
bonate of soda. Make the paste into a ball, and 
cover it with a fine linen or muslin cloth, and leave 
it till the following day. If you have no molds to 
press it in, cut it into diamonds or different shapes, 
and cook them in the oven on buttered trays. I 
believe waffle irons can be bought in London. 



56 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Gaufres from Brussels 

Mix in an earthern bowl half a pint of flour, 
five yolks of eggs, a coffee-spoonful of castor 
sugar, half pint of milk (fresh) , adding a pinch of 
salt and of vanilla; then two ounces butter melted 
over hot water. Then beat up the whites of four 
eggs very stiffly, and add them. Butter a baking- 
tin or sheet (since English households have not got 
a gaufre-iron, which is double and closes up), and 
pour in your mixture, spreading it over the sheet. 
When the gaufre is nicely yellowed, take it out and 
powder it with sugar. But to render this recipe 
absolutely successful, the correct implement is nec- 
essary. 

Rice a la Conde 

Simmer the rice in milk till it is tender, sweeten 
it, and add, for a medium-sized mold, the yolks of 
two eggs. Let it thicken a little, and stir in pieces 
of pineapple. Pour it into a mold, and let it cool. 
Turn it out when it has well set, and decorate with 
crystallized fruits. Pour round it a thin apricot 
syrup. [Mme. Spinette.~\ 

Pains Perdus 
(Lost bread) 
Make a mixture of milk and raw eggs, enough 
to soak up in six rusks. Flavor it with a little 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 57 

mace or cinnamon. Put some butter in a pan and 
put the rusks in it to fry. Let them color a good 
brown, and serve them hot with sugar dusted over 
them. [Mtne. Spinette.~\ 

Fruit Fritters 

Peel some apples, take out the core and cut them 
in slices, powder them on each side with sugar. 
You can use also pears, melons, or bananas. 
Make a batter with flour, milk and eggs, beating 
well the whites; a glass of rum and sugar to 
sweeten it. Put your lard on to heat, and when 
the blue steam rises roll your fruit slices in the 
batter and throw them into the lard. When they 
are golden, serve them with powdered sugar. 

[Mme. Spinette.~\ 

Mocha Cake 

Take half a pound of fresh butter, four ounces 
of powdered sugar, and work them well together. 
When they are well mixed, add the yolks of four 
eggs, each one separately, and the whites of two. 
When the mixture is thoroughly well done, add, 
drop by drop, some boiling coffee essence to your 
taste. Butter a mold and line it with small sponge 
biscuits, and fill it with alternate layers of the 
cream and of biscuits. Put it for the night in the 
cellar before you serve it the following day. You 



58 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

can replace the essence of coffee by some chocolate 
that has been melted over hot water. 

[Mme. Spinette.] 

Vanilla Cream 
Sweeten well half a pint of milk and flavor it 
with vanilla. Put it to boil. Mix in a dish the 
yolks of four eggs with a little cornflour. When 
the milk boils, pour it very slowly over the eggs, 
mixing it well. Return it all to the pan and let it 
get thick without bringing it to the boil. Add 
some chopped almonds, and turn the mixture into 
a mold to cool. [Mme. Spinette.] 

Rum Cream 
Take sponge biscuits and arrange them on a 
dish, joining each to the other with jam. (You 
can make a square or a circle or a sort of hollow 
tower.) Pour your rum over them till they are 
well soaked. Then pour over them, or into the 
middle of the biscuits, a vanilla cream like the fore- 
going recipe, but let it be nearly cold before you 
use it. Decorate the top with the whites of four 
eggs sweetened and beaten, or use fresh cream in 
the same way. [Mme. Spinette.] 

Pineapple a TAnvers 
Take some slices of pineapple, and cut off the 
brown spots at the edges. Steep them for three 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 59 

hours in a plateful of weak kirsch, or maraschino, 
that is slightly warmed. Cut some slices of plain 
cake of equal thickness, and glaze them. This is 
done by sprinkling sugar over the slices and plac- 
ing them in a gentle oven. The sugar melts and 
leaves the slices glace s. Arrange the slices in a 
circle, alternating pineapple and cake, and pour 
over the latter an apricot marmalade thinned with 
kirsch or other liqueur. This dish looks very nice, 
and if whipped cream can be added it is excellent. 

[L. L. B. Anvers.] 

Pouding aux Pommes 

Take a pound of apples and peel them. Cook 
them, and rub them, when soft, through a sieve to 
make them into a puree. Sweeten it well, and 
scent it with a scrap of vanilla ; then let it get cold. 
Beat up three eggs, both whites and yolks, and mix 
them into your cold compote, and put all in a dish 
that will stand the heat of the oven. Then place 
on the top a bit of butter the size of a filbert and 
powder all over with white sugar. Place the dish 
in an oven with a gentle heat for half-an-hour, 
watching how it cooks. This dish can be eaten 
hot or cold. [E. Defouck.] 



60 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Souffle au Chocolat 
Melt two tablets of chocolate (Menier) in a 
dessert-spoonful of water over heat, stirring till 
the chocolate is well wetted and very thick. Then 
prepare some feculina flour in the following way: 
Take for five or six persons nearly a pint of milk. 
Sweeten it well with sugar; take two dessert-spoon- 
fuls of feculina. Boil the sweetened milk, flavor- 
ing it with a few drops of vanilla essence. When 
it is boiled, take it from the fire, and let it get cold, 
mixing in the flour by adding it slowly so as not to 
make lumps. Put it back on a brisk fire and stir 
till it thickens; add then the melted chocolate, and 
when that is gently stirred in take off your pan, 
and again let it get cold. At the moment of cook- 
ing the souffle, add three whites of eggs beaten 
stiff. Butter a deep fireproof dish, and pour in 
the mixture, only filling up half of the dish. Cook 
in the oven for fifteen minutes in a gentle heat, 
and serve immediately. A tablet of Chocolat 
Menier is a recognized weight. 

[Gabrielle Jams ens. ~\ 

A New Dish of Apples 
Take a pint of apple puree and add to it three 
well-beaten eggs, a taste of cinnamon if liked, quar- 
ter of a pound of melted butter and the same quan- 
tity of white powdered sugar. Mix all together 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 61 

and, taking a fireproof dish, put a little water in 
the bottom of it and then some fine breadcrumbs, 
sufficient to cover the bottom. Pour in your com- 
pote, then, above that, a layer of fine breadcrumbs, 
and here and there a lump of fresh butter, which 
will prevent the breadcrumbs from burning. 
Cook for half-an-hour. 

Golden Rice 
Put a quart of milk to boil, and, when boiling, 
add half a pound of good rice. When the rice is 
nearly cooked, add a pennyworth of saffron, stir- 
ring it in evenly. This is excellent, eaten cold with 
stewed quinces and cream. [V, VerachtertJ\ 

Banana Compote 
Divide the bananas in regular pieces; arrange 
them in slices on your compote dish, one slice lean- 
ing against the other in a circle. Sprinkle them 
with sugar. Squeeze the juice of an orange and of 
half a lemon — this would be sufficient for six ba- 
nanas — and pour it over the bananas. Cover the 
dish and leave it for two hours in a cold place. 
A mold of cornflour or of ground rice may be eaten 
with this. \Mme. Gabrielle Jans sens .] 

Riz Conde 
For one and one-half pints of milk half a break- 
fast-cupful of rice. . Let it boil with sugar and 



62 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

vanilla; strain the whole. Add one-half pint of 
cream, well beaten, five leaves of gelatine 
(melted). Mix the whole and pour in a mold 
which has been wet. When turned out of the 
mold, put apricots or other fruit on the top. Pour 
the juice over all. [Mile. Breakers.} 

Chocolate Cream 

10 leaves of gelatine, well melted and sifted, 
i pint cream, well beaten. 

T>y 2 sticks of chocolate melted with a little milk. 
Mix all the ingredients together and put them in 
a mold which has been previously wet. 

[Mile. Breakers.'] 

Kidney Souffle 

Mince finely a veal kidney and add one-half 
pound of minced veal. Make a brown sauce of 
flour and butter, and add the meat to it. Let it 
cool a little, and add three well-beaten eggs, with 
a teaspoonful of rasped Gruyere. Butter a mold, 
and sprinkle the inside with breadcrumbs, and fill 
it with the mince. Leave it for three quarters of 
an hour in the oven, or for an hour and a half in 
the double saucepan of boiling water. Turn it out 
of the mold and serve with either a tomato or a 
mushroom sauce. [L. L. B. (d y Anvers).~\ 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 63 

Baked Souffle 
Three eggs, two table-spoonfuls of powdered 
sugar and a thimbleful of cornflour or feculina 
flour. The original recipe gives also one packet 
of vanilla sugar, but as this may be difficult to get 
in England it will be easier to add a few drops of 
vanilla essence when mixing. Mix the yolks of 
eggs with the sugar for ten minutes, then add the 
whites, stiffly beaten, stirring in very lightly, so as 
to let as much air as possible remain in the mix- 
ture; sprinkle in the flour. Take a fireproof dish, 
and butter it, and pour in the mixture, which place 
in a gentle oven for a quarter of an hour. It is 
better to practice this recipe at lest once before you 
prepare it at a dinner, on account of the baking. 

[L. Verhaeghe.~\ 

Peasants' Eggs 
For six people put on the fire two handfuls of 
sorrel, reduce it to a puree, and add two dessert- 
spoonfuls of cream, a lump of butter the size of a 
pigeon's egg, pepper, salt. Take six hard-boiled 
eggs and, crumbling out the yolks, add them to 
the sorrel puree. Place the whites (which you 
should have cut longways) on a hot dish, and pour 
over them the puree of sorrel ; sprinkle the top with 
breadcrumbs, and put bits of butter on it also. 



64 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Place in the oven for ten minutes, and serve gar- 
nished with tomatoes. 

[Mile. A. Demeulemeester.] 

Two Recipes for Tomatoes and Eggs 

Take some good tomatoes, but not too ripe. 
Cut them 'down from top to bottom, take out the 
pulp, and in each half tomato put half a hard- 
boiled egg. Arrange them on a dish, and pour 
round them a good mayonnaise, to which you have 
added some chopped parsley. 

Take some tomatoes not too ripe, and cut them 
in half horizontally. Take out the pulp, so that 
you have two half-cases from each tomato. Break 
an egg into each tomato and sprinkle it well with 
cheese. Place them all in the oven, till the eggs 
are set, and decorate with sprigs of parsley. 

[Mile. A. Demeulemeester.'] 

Tomatoes and Eggs 

Hard-boil some eggs and, while they are cook- 
ing, fry a large square slice of bread in butter to 
make a large crouton. Peel the eggs when they 
have been in boiling water for ten minutes. Pile 
them on the crouton, and have ready a tomato 
sauce to pour over. 

Tomato Sauce: Gently stew two pounds of to- 
matoes and pass them through a sieve, return them 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 65 

to the pan and stir in a mustard-spoonful of mus- 
tard, a teaspoonful of vinegar, salt and pepper; 
heat well ; and, if too thin, thicken it with flour to 
the right consistency. \_Mme. van Praet.] 

Mushroom Omelette 

Toss the sliced mushrooms in butter, adding, if 
you wish, a little mushroom ketchup. Break the 
eggs in a pan and beat them lightly together, and 
cook for three minutes over a good fire. Slip the 
omelette on a hot dish, spread with butter. 

Asparagus Omelette 

This is made quite differently. Cook the as- 
paragus-tops in salt and water and drain them. 
Roll them in a little bechamel sauce. Break your 
eggs into the pan into which you have put a little 
butter; stir them with a fork in your left hand, 
adding salt and pepper with your right. This will 
only take a minute. Add the asparagus-tops in 
the thick sauce; this will take another minute. 
Roll or fold up the omelette and slip it on a hot 
buttered dish. [Mme. van Praet.~\ 

Stuffed Eggs 

Hard-boil your eggs, allowing half an egg for 
each person. Take out the yolk. While they are 
boiling and afterwards cooling in water, make a 



66 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

small quantity of mayonnaise sauce. Peel the 
eggs, cut them through lengthways, and take out 
the yolks. Crumble these with a little chopped 
herbs, and add the mayonnaise. Fill the eggs with 
this mixture, and place them in a dish with chopped 
lettuce round it, to which you may add a little more 
of the sauce. 

\Mme. van Mar eke de Lunessen.] 

Poached Eggs, Tomato Sauce 

Make some rounds of toast and butter them; 
place on each a slice of tongue or of ham. Keep 
these hot, and poach as many eggs as you require. 
Slip each egg on the toasts, and cover them 
quickly with a highly seasoned tomato sauce. 

\Mme. van Marcke de Lunessen.] 

Eggs and Mushrooms 

Pick over half a pound of mushrooms, cut them 
in small pieces like dice, and put them to stew in 
the oven with plenty of butter, pepper, and salt. 
Make a thick white sauce, and you may add to it 
the juice from the mushrooms when they are 
cooked; then stir in the mushrooms. Take three 
hard-boiled eggs, and separate yolks from whites. 
Put into a shallow vegetable-dish the whites cut 
up in small pieces, pour over them the bechamel 
with the mushrooms, and finish up by sprinkling 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 67 

over the top the hard-boiled yolks, which you have 
crumbled up with a fork. \Mme. Braconniere.~\ 

Belgian Eggs 

Make some scrambled eggs, and place them on 
a very hot dish, and pour round them a thick to- 
mato sauce. Decorate the dish quickly with thick 
rounds of tomato. 

Eggs a la Ribeaucourt 

Butter some little paper cases, and let them dry 
in the oven. Put into each one a pat of butter 
and let it melt lightly. Break an egg into each 
case, taking care not to break the yolk, and put a 
bit of butter on each yolk. Place in a quick oven 
till the whites are half set. At the moment of 
serving take them out, and have ready some minced 
tongue or ham, to sprinkle on them, and decorate 
with a big bit of truffle. 

To Use Up Remains of Meat 

Cut in slices the remains of any cold meat, such 
as pork, beef, veal, ham, or mutton. Melt in a 
pan a bit of salt butter the size of a walnut, and 
put in it an onion cut into fine slices; let it get 
brown in the hot butter. In another pan put a 
larger piece of butter rolled in a soup-spoonful of 
flour; add to it the onion and butter, and add 



68 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

enough water to prevent the sauce from getting 
very thick. Add, if you wish it, a teaspoonful of 
meat-extract and a pinch of salt. Have ready 
some mashed potatoes, but let them be very light. 
Place the slices of meat in a fireproof dish, pour 
the sauce on them, then the mashed potatoes, and 
put the dish in the oven, all well heated through. 
This is called in Belgium " un philosopher 

[Paquerette.] 

Veal with Onions 

Take a lump of butter the size of an egg, and 
let it color in a saucepan. Slice some onions and 
fry them in another pan. When fried, add them 
to the butter with some sliced carrots, a few small 
onions, and your pieces of veal, salt, and pepper. 
Add a small quantity of water, and close the lid on 
the saucepan. When the meat is tender, you can 
thicken the sauce with a little flour. This is a 
good way to use veal that is hard, or parts that are 
not the best cuts. [Paquerette.~\ 

Veal Cake 

Mince very finely three pounds of raw veal and 
one-fourth pound of pork. It is better to do this 
at home than to have it done at the butcher's. Put 
two slices of bread to soak in milk, add two yolks 
of eggs and the whites, pepper and salt. Mix it 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 69 

well, working it for ten minutes. Then let it rest 
for half-an-hour. Put it in a small stewpan, add a 
lump of butter the size of a pigeon's egg, and put 
it in the oven. It will be ready to serve when the 
juice has ceased to run out. [Paquerette.] 

To Use Up Cold Meat 

Take a fresh celery, wash it well, and remove 
the green leaves. Let it boil till half-cooked in 
salted water. Drain it on a sieve, and then cut 
it lengthways, and place minced meat of any kind, 
well seasoned, between the two pieces. Tie them 
together with a thread and let them cook again 
for a quarter of an hour, this time either in the 
same water and gently simmered, or in the oven 
in a well-buttered dish. Other people, to avoid 
the trouble of tying the two halves, spread the 
mince on each half and cook it in the oven, laid 
flat in a fireproof dish. In this case put a good 
lump of butter on each portion of mince. 

[L. Verhaeghe.] 

Flemish Carbonade 

Put two onions to color in butter or in hot fat. 
Then add to them the beef, which you have cut 
into pieces the size of a small cake. Let it cook 
for a few minutes, then add pepper, salt, a carrot 
sliced, and enough water to allow the meat to cook 



70 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

gently by the side of the fire, allowing one and 
one-half hours for one and one-half pounds of 
meat. Ten minutes before serving add to the 
sauce a little meat-juice or Liebig. You may at 
the same time, if it is wished, cook potatoes with 
the meat for about twenty minutes. Serve it all 
in a large dish, the meat in the center and the pota- 
toes round. The sauce is served separately, and 
without being passed through the sieve. 

[L. Verhaeghe.~\ 

A Use for Cold Mutton 

Cut the mutton into neat pieces, take away all 
fat and skin. Fry in butter and add all sorts of 
vegetables in dice, with thyme, bay-leaves, and 
parsley. Let all this stew very gently for two 
hours; you must add more stock or water to pre- 
vent it getting dry. Keep the lid of the pan on 
and, half-an-hour before serving, put in peeled 
potatoes. This dish is served very liquid. 

[Mme. Spinette.] 

Flemish Carbonades 

Take four pounds of beef — there is a cut near 
the neck that is suitable for this recipe. Cut the 
meat in small pieces (square) and fry them in a 
pan. In another pan put a piece of refined fat 
and fry in it five big onions that you have finely 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 71 

chopped. When these are well browned, add to 
them the meat, sprinkling in also pepper, salt, 
mixed herbs. Cover all with water, and let it cook 
for an hour with the lid on. After an hour's cook- 
ing, add half a glass of beer, a slice of crumb of 
bread with a light layer of mustard and three 
tablespoonfuls of best vinegar. Let it cook again 
for three quarters of an hour. If the sauce is not 
thick enough, add a little flour, taking care that it 
boils up again afterwards. 

Fish 

When there remains any cold fish, take away 
all skin and bones, mixing the flesh with salt, but- 
ter, pepper, and one or two raw eggs as you wish. 
Take some small fireproof cases and place in each 
some lemon-juice with a little melted butter and 
grated breadcrumbs. Bake the cases till the top 
of the fish is of a golden color. 

Remains of Fish 

Make a good white sauce, add pepper, salt, and 
a little nutmeg and juice of a lemon. Add then 
your remains of fish and a few pickled shrimps. 
Fill some shells with it and sprinkle over the top 
a good powdering of grated Gruyere cheese. Lay 
a pat of butter in the middle of each shell and put 
them in the oven. When they are colored a good 



72 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

golden brown, serve them decorated with parsley. 

[Mme. Lekent.~] 



Good Rissoles 

Mince any cold meat, adding to a pound of it 
one-half pound of fresh lean pork, a chopped shal- 
lot and parsley, salt, pepper, a little nutmeg, and 
bind with an egg, both yolk and white. Form 
into balls, and dip them in flour, then color them 
in some butter, and when they are nicely browned 
pour into the butter a little stock or meat-juice and 
water. Let them gently cook in it for ten min- 
utes, and serve. [Mme. Lekent.] 

Croquettes of Boiled Meat 

I think that boiled meat when cold is often neg- 
lected as being tasteless, but, prepared as I will 
show you, it will deserve your approval. 

Mince your boiled meat and put it into a thick 
white sauce well-spiced with pepper, salt, and nut- 
meg, and let it remain for two hours. Then pre- 
pare your croquettes by rolling the mixture in white 
of egg and fine breadcrumbs. Put a piece of but- 
ter in the saucepan, sufficient to take all the cro- 
quettes, and let them brown in it for about ten 
minutes. A white sauce served with them is a 
good addition. [Mile. A. Demeuleme ester.'] 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 73 

Carbonades Done with Beer 

Cut the meat into slices that are thin rather 
than thick. Mince two big onions and fry them 
till brown ; then fry the slices till they are colored 
on both sides. Pour on them first some beer, then 
a dash of vinegar, adding thyme, pepper, and salt, 
and throw in also a slice of crust of bread, which 
you have spread with mustard. Let this all sim- 
mer for three hours. [Mme. Segnr.'] 

Walloon Entree 

Make some toasted bread, either cut in rounds 
or in squares, and butter them. Cut some slices 
of salt beef, or, better still, ham, and put them on 
top ; spread the meat with a good layer of grated 
cheese, and over that place another piece of but- 
tered toast of corresponding shape. - Melt some 
butter in a small saucepan and fry the rounds till 
they are golden-brown. [Mme. E. Maes.] 

Scraps of Meat 

Your scraps of meat must be cut small or 
roughly minced; add to them a little sausage-meat, 
about a quarter as much, and a slice of white 
crumb bread that you have dipped in water or 
milk, and well drained. If eggs are not too dear, 
add two eggs, mixing them with the meat. Place 
the dish in the oven for half-an-hour — but it 



74 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

must be a slow oven — and take care that the meat 
does not become dry. [Z 7 . Verachtert.'] 

Fricadelle 

For one pound of minced pork take one and one- 
half pounds of minced veal; cut three slices of 
white bread the thickness of nearly an inch, and 
crumble them up; two raw eggs, pepper and salt. 
Mix it all well, and place it in the oven for half- 
an-hour. If you eat this hot, serve it with a gravy 
sauce. If you wish for a supper-dish, put salad 
round the meat. 

Chicory and Ham with Cheese Sauce 

Cook the chicories gently in butter till they are 
done. Then take each one, and roll it in a slice 
of ham, and put them in a fireproof dish. Then 
make a very good white sauce of flour and butter 
and milk, adding cheese to flavor it strongly, and 
the yolk of an egg. Pour this sauce over the 
chicory, and place the dish in the oven. Let it 
turn brownish, and then serve it directly. 

\Mme. Vandervalle.'] 

Croquettes of Veal 

Make first of all a very thick white sauce of 
flour, milk, and butter, not forgetting also salt and 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 75 

pepper; when it is very thick add grated Gruyere 
cheese, in the proportion of a heaped teaspoonful 
of this to a breakfast-cupful of sauce. Take it 
off the fire, and stir in first of all the juice of a 
lemon, and then the yolk of an egg. Let it get 
cold. Then mince up finely your veal, or, indeed, 
any lean meat. Mix it well with the sauce, and 
make croquettes of it. Then roll each in the 
white of egg that you have left, and then in grated 
breadcrumbs, and fry in deep fat. 

[Mme. Vandervalle.~] 



Entree (Croque-Monsieur) 

Cut out some rounds of crumb of bread, of equal 
size, with a tin cutter; or, failing that, with a wine- 
glass. Butter all the rounds and sprinkle them 
with grated cheese — for preference with Gruyere. 
On half the number of rounds place a bit of ham 
cut to the same size. Put a lump of butter the 
weight of egg into a pan, and fry with the rounds 
in it, till they become golden. When they are a 
nice color, place one round dressed with cheese on 
a round dressed with ham, so as to have the golden 
bread both above and below. Serve them very 
hot, and garnished with fried parsley. 

[E. Defouck.] 



76 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Hot-Pot 

Before putting in your meat, cook in the water a 
celery, four leeks, two onions, two turnips, two 
carrots; then add the meat, with pepper and salt, 
and stew gently for three hours. If you can put in 
a marrow-bone as well, that will give the soup a 
delicious flavor. \V. Ferachtert.] 

Hoche Pot 

One pound of fresh pork, one pound rump 
(flank) of beef, one pound rump of veal, two on- 
ions, one celery, four leeks, two or three carrots, 
two or three turnips, according to the size, a few 
Brussels sprouts, five or six potatoes, according to 
the number of persons. Let the water boil before 
putting in the meat, and cut all the vegetables in 
cubes of the same size, like cubes of sugar. Let 
simmer only, for three hours; it is delicious and 
makes a dinner. \V . Ferachtert.] 

Bouchees a la Reine 

Get some little cases from the pastry-cook of 
puff paste, which are to be filled with sweetbread 
cut in dice. It is a good plan to heat the cases 
before filling them. 

The filling mixture. Cook the sweetbreads in 
water with pepper and salt, till done, skin them 
and cut in dice. Prepare a good bechamel sauce, 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 77 

seasoned with the juice of a lemon, and add to it a 
few mushrooms that have been fried in butter. 
Heat the dice of sweetbread in this sauce and fill 
the cases with it. Put them back in the oven to 
get quite hot. 

Hoche Pot of Ghent 

Clean two big carrots and cut them into small 
pieces, the same for two turnips, four leeks, two 
celeries, and a good green cabbage, only using the 
pale leaves. Wash all these vegetables well in 
running water, two or three times, and put them 
on the fire in three and one-half pints of water. 
Add salt, and let it cook for an hour. At the end 
of this time, add a good piece of pork weighing 
perhaps three pounds — for choice let it be cutlets. 
You can also add a pig's trotter. Let it cook for 
another hour, taking care that the meat remains 
below the water. At the end of that time, and 
half-an-hour before you wish to eat it, add pota- 
toes enough to be three for each person. Watch 
the cooking so as to see that the potatoes do not 
stick, and finish the seasoning with pepper and salt. 

[Georges Kerckaert.'] 

Carbonade of Flanders 

Cut your beef into small neat pieces. Mince 
some onions finely, and for five or six people you 



78 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

would add two bay-leaves, two cloves, pepper, salt; 
simmer gently for three hours in water, and at the 
end of that time bind the sauce with cornflour. 
Some people like the sauce to be thickened instead 
with mustard. \V. Ferachtert.] 

Headless Sparrows 

Take two pounds of beef, which must be lean 
and cut in thin slices. Cut your slices of beef in 
pieces of five inches by three. Put in the middle 
of each piece a little square of very fat bacon, a 
sprig of parsley, pepper and salt. Roll up the 
slices and tie them round with a thread so that the 
seasoning remains inside. Melt in a pan a lump 
of butter the size of a very big egg. Let it get 
brown and then, after rolling the beef in flour, 
put them in the butter. Let them cook thus for 
five minutes, add half a pint of water, and let them 
simmer for two hours. Fill up with water if it 
becomes too dry. Before serving, take great care 
to remove the threads. 

[A Belgian at Droitwich.'] 

Mutton Stew 

Take two pounds of mutton, the breast or one 
of the inferior parts will do as well as a prime 
piece. Put in an earthenware pan a lump of but- 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 79 

ter as big as an egg, and let it color. Cut the mut- 
ton in pieces and let them color in the butter, 
adding salt and pepper, a few onions or shallots. 
When all is colored, add at least a pound of tur- 
nips, cut in slices, with about a pint of water. Let 
it boil up till the turnips are tender. Then add 
two and one-half or three pounds of potatoes; salt 
and pepper these, but in moderation, if the meat 
has been already salted and peppered. Add some 
thyme and bay-leaves, and let them all cook very 
gently till the potatoes are tender. When these 
are cooked, take out the pieces of meat, mix the 
turnips and potatoes, so as to make a uniform mix- 
ture ; then place the meat on the top of the mixture, 
and serve it. N.B. It is necessary to watch the 
cooking of this dish very carefully, so that you 
can add a little water whenever it becomes neces- 
sary, for if one leaves the preparation a little too 
dry it quickly burns. 

\_A Belgian at Droitwich.y 

Hoche Pot Gantois 

(For eight or nine persons) 

Take one pound beef, one pound salt pork, and 

one pound mutton; cut into pieces about three 

inches by two, let it boil, and skim. Take two or 

three carrots, one large turnip, one large head of 



80 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

celery, three or four leeks, a good green cabbage, 
cut in four, the other vegetables cut into pieces of 
moderate size, not too small ; put them in with the 
meat, and see that they are first covered by the 
water. Let it boil for three to four hours, and 
three quarters of an hour before dishing, add some 
potatoes cut in pieces. 

To dish : Place the meat in the center of a flat 
dish, and the vegetables around; serve the liquid 
in a soup-tureen. This dish should be eaten out 
of soup plates, as it is soup and meat course at one 
time. 

Chinese Corks 

Make a thick white sauce, and when it has grown 
a little cold, add the yolk of one egg, and a few 
drops of lemon-juice. Sprinkle in a slice of stale 
bread, and enough grated cheese to flavor it 
strongly, and leave it to cool for two hours. Then 
shape into small pieces like corks, dip them into 
the beaten whites of your egg, and then into grated 
breadcrumbs. Have ready some hot fat, or lard, 
and fry the cheese-balls in it till they are golden. 

[Mme. Litnpens.~\ 

Limpens Cheese 

Take a roll and, cutting it in slices, remove the 
crusts so that a round of crumbs remain. Butter 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 81 

each slice, and cover it well with grated cheese, 
building up the slices one on the top of the other. 
Boil a cupful of milk, with pepper, salt, and a 
little nutmeg; when boiled, pour it over the bread 
till it is well soaked. Put them in the oven, for 
quarter of an hour, according to the heat of the 
oven and the quantity you have. You must pour 
its juice over it every now and then, and when the 
top is turning into a crust, serve it. 

[Mme. Limpens.'] 



Cheese Souffle 

Take two good soup-spoonfuls of flour, and mix 
it with half a teacupful of milk; melt a lump of 
butter, the size of a filbert, and add that, then 
enough grated cheese to your taste, and the yolks 
of four eggs. Add at the last the whites of the 
four eggs, beaten stiffly; pepper and salt. Butter 
a mold, put in your mixture, and let it cook for one 
hour in a saucepan, surrounded with boiling water, 
and the lid on. Then turn out the souffle, and 
serve with a mushroom sauce. The sauce is a 
good white sauce, to which you add already cooked 
mushrooms. Clean them first of all, chop them, 
and cook them till tender in butter; and their own 
juice ; then throw them into the sauce, and pour it 
over your souffle. [Mme. Vandervalle.'] 



82 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Cheese Croquettes 

Make a thick bechamel sauce, and be sure that 
you cook it for ten minutes, constantly stirring. 
Add, till well flavored, some Gruyere and Par- 
mesan cheese, mixed and grated. Let it all get 
cold. Then roll this mixture into the shape of car- 
rots; roll them in finely-grated breadcrumbs, and 
fry them in hot lard or refined fat. Lay them on 
a hot dish, and, at the thicker end of each carrot 
stick in a sprig of parsley to look like the stalk. 
\Mme. van Marcke de Lunessen.'] 

Cheese Fondants 
For twelve fondants make a white sauce with 
two soupspoons of flour and milk. Add to it the 
yolks of three eggs. Stir in four ounces of mixed 
Gruyere cheese, and Parmesan, grated very finely. 
Add at the end the juice of half a lemon, and a 
dust of cayenne. Let it all grow cold. Then 
make little balls with this paste and roll them in 
breadcrumbs. Throw them in a pan of boiling 
fat, where they must remain till they are a good 
golden color. Drain them, keeping them hot, and 
serve quickly. [Madame Emelie Jones.} 

Cheese Souffle 
Grate half a pound of Gruyere cheese. Mix in 
a cup of milk a dessertspoonful of flour; beat four 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 83 

whole eggs, and add first the cheese, and then the 
flour and milk mixture. Season with pepper and 
salt, and put all into a mold. Let it cook in a 
saucepan of boiling water for an hour and a half. 
Then at the end of this time put it in the oven for 
half an hour. [Madame Emelie Jones.] 

Potatoes and Cheese 

Wash some raw potatoes, peel them, cut them 
into very thin round slices. Take a dish which 
will stand the oven, and be nice enough to go on 
the table, and put in it a layer of the slices sprinkled 
with pepper, salt, a little flour, and plenty of grated 
Gruyere. Continue in this way, finishing with a # 
layer of cheese, and a little flour. Put the dish in 
the oven, which must not be a very hot one, and 
cook gently. 

For a medium pie dish you will find that half an 
hour will be sufficient to cook the potatoes. 

[Madame Emelie Jones.] 

York Ham, Sweetbreads, Madeira Sauce 

Heat the ham in a double saucepan (bain 
marie). Boil the sweetbreads, blanch them and 
let them fry in some butter. 

Take flour and butter and melt them to a thick 
sauce, adding a tumbler of water and Liebig which 
will turn your sauce brown. Fry half a pound of 



84 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

mushrooms in butter and when brown, add them 
and the liquor to your sauce with a good glass of 
madeira or sherry. Place your ham in the mid- 
dle of the dish, surround it with the sweetbreads, 
and pour over all the Madeira sauce. 

[Mme. V andervalle J\ 

Ham with Madeira Sauce 

Cook some macaroni or spaghetti, with salt and 
pepper. Make a brown sauce, using plenty of but- 
ter, for this dish requires a great deal of sauce, and 
add to your " roux " some tomatoes in puree 
(stewed and run through a sieve) , a little meat ex- 
tract, some fried mushrooms, a few drops of good 
brandy or madeira to your taste. Let your slices 
of ham heat in this sauce, and when ready, place 
them in the middle of a flat dish, put the mush- 
rooms or spaghetti round, and put the sauce, very 
hot, over the ham. [Madame Spine tte.] 

A Difficult Dish of Eggs 

And yet this is only fried eggs after all! Put 
some oil on to heat; if you have not oil use butter, 
but oil is the best. When the bluish steam rises it 
is hot enough. Break an egg into a little flat 
dish, tip up the frying pan at the handle side, and 
slip the egg into it, then with a wooden spoon turn 
the egg over on itself; that is, roll the white of it 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 85 

over the yolk as it slips into the pan. If you can- 
not manage this, let the egg heat for a second, and 
then roll the white over the yolk with a wooden 
spoon. Do each egg in this way, and as soon as 
one is done let it drain and keep warm by the fire. 
When all are done put them in a circle, in a dish, 
and pour round them a very hot sauce, either made 
with tomatoes, or flavored with vinegar and mus- 
tard. 

Country Eggs 

Make a white sauce thickly mixed with onions, 
such as you would eat in England with a leg of 
mutton, but do not forget a little seasoning of 
mace. Make a high mold of mashed potatoes, 
and then scoop it out from the top, leaving the bot- 
tom and high sides of the vegetable. While your 
sauce is kept by the fire (the potatoes also), boil 
six eggs for two minutes, shell them, and you will 
find the whites just set and no more. Pour the 
onion sauce into the potato, and drop in the whole 
eggs and serve very hot. 

French Eggs 

Put a lump of butter the size of an egg in a fire- 
proof dish, mixing in when it is melted some 
breadcrumbs, a chopped leek, the inside of three 
tomatoes, pepper and salt. Let it cook for three 



86 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

or four minutes in the oven, then stir in the yolks 
of two eggs, and let it make a custard. 

Then break on the top of this custard as many 
eggs as you wish; sprinkle with pepper and salt. 
Let it remain in the oven till these last are begin- 
ning to set. Take out the dish, and pass over the 
top the salamander, or the shovel, red hot, and 
serve at once. I have seen this dish with the two 
extra whites of eggs beaten and placed in a pile on 
the top, and slightly browned by the shovel. 

CEufs Celestes 
(Hommage a Sir Edward Grey) 

Gently boil a quantity of the very best green 
peas in good gravy; as the gravy becomes reduced, 
add, instead, butter. Do not forget to have put a 
lump of sugar in every pint of gravy. When the 
peas are done break on them the required number 
of fresh eggs, with pepper and salt. Place all in 
a double saucepan, till the eggs are just done. It 
is a pity that in England there are no cooking pots 
made, which will hold fire on the top, so that a 
dish, such as this, becomes easily done in a few 
minutes. 

Petites Caisses a la Furnes 

Take a small Ostend rabbit, steep it in water 
as usual, and boil it gently in some white stock, 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 87 

with a good many peppercorns. When it is cold 
chop the meat up into small dice ; add to it about a 
quarter of the amount of ham, and the whites of 
two hard-boiled eggs, all cut to the same size. 

Moisten the salpicon with a good white sauce 
made with cream, a little lemon juice, pepper and 
salt. 

The little paper cases must have a ring of cress 
arranged, about a quarter of an inch thick; the 
salpicon, put in carefully with a small spoon, will 
hold it in place. 

Fill the cases to the level of the cress leaves, and 
decorate with a Belgian flag made as follows : 

Make some aspic jelly with gelatine, tarragon 
vinegar, and a little sherry. Color one portion 
with paprika or coralline, pepper; a second part 
with the sieved yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, and 
the remainder with rinsed pickled walnuts, also 
passed through a wire sieve. Pour the red jelly 
into a small mold with straight sides; when it is 
almost set pour in the yellow aspic, and when that 
is cold pour in the black. When the jelly is quite 
cold, turn it out, slice it, and cut it into pieces of 
suitable size. If you make too much aspic it can 
decorate any cold dish or salad. The walnut 
squash looks black at night. 

[Margaret Strait, or Mrs. A. Stuart.] 



88 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Flemish Carrots 

Take some young carrots, wash and brush them 
as tenderly as you would an infant, then simmer 
them till tender in with pepper and salt. When 
cooked, draw them to the side of the fire and pour 
in some cream to make a good sauce. If you can- 
not use cream, take milk instead and stir with it 
the yolk of an egg. To thicken for use, add a 
pinch of sugar and some chopped parsley. 

Aubergine or Egg Plant 

This purple fruit is, like the tomato, always 
cooked as a vegetable. It is like the brinjal of the 
East. It is hardly necessary to give special reci- 
pes for the dressing of aubergines, for you can see 
their possibilities at a glance. They can be stuffed 
with white mince in a white sauce, when you would 
cut the fruit in half, remove some of the interior, 
fill up with mince and sauce, replace the top, and 
bake for twenty minutes, or simply cut in halves 
and stewed in stock, with pepper and salt they are 
good, or you can simmer them gently in water and 
when ready to serve, pour over them a white sauce 
as for vegetable marrow. If they are cheap in 
England the following entree would be inexpensive 
and would look nice. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 89 

Egg Plants as Souffle 

Wash the fruit, cut them lengthways, remove 
the inside. Fill each half with a mixture made of 
beaten egg, grated cheese, and some fine bread- 
crumbs, and a dash of mustard. Put the halves to 
bake for a quarter of an hour, or till the souffle 
mixture has risen. When cooked place them in an 
oval dish with a border of rice turned out from 
a border mold. 

Potato Croquettes 

Cook your potatoes, rub them through the sieve, 
add pepper and salt, two or three eggs, lightly 
beaten, mixing both yolks and whites, and accord- 
ing to the quantity you are making a little butter 
and milk. Work all well and let it get cold. 
Roll into croquettes, roll each in beaten egg, then 
in finely grated breadcrumbs, and let them cook in 
boiling fat or lard. [Madame Emelie Jones.] 

Puree of Chestnuts 

Make a little slit in each chestnut, boil them till 
tender, then put them in another pan with cold 
water in it and replace them on the fire. Peel 
them one by one as you take them out, and rub 
them through a sieve, pounding them first to make 
it easier, add salt, a good lump of butter and a 
little milk to make a nice puree. This is very 



90 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

good to surround grilled chicken or turkey legs, 
or for a salmi of duck or hare. 

Hors d'CEuvres 

The attractive " savory " of English dinner 
tables finds its counterpart apparently in egg and 
fish dishes served cold at the beginning of a meal, 
and therefore what we should hall hors d'ceuvres. 

Potato Dice 

Boil your potatoes and let them be of the firm, 
soapy kind, not the floury kind. When cooked, 
and cold, cut them into dice, and toss them in the 
following sauce : 

Take equal quantities of salad oil and cream, a 
quarter of that amount of tarragon vinegar, a 
pinch of salt, and a few chopped capers. Mix 
very well, and pour it on the dice. You may vary 
this by using cream only, in which case omit the 
vinegar. Season with pepper, salt, celery seed, 
and instead of the capers take some pickled nas- 
turtium seed, and let that, finely minced, remain 
in the sauce for an hour before using it. 

Anchovies 

Fillets of these, put in a lattice work across 
mashed potato look very nice. Be sure you use 
good anchovies preserved in salt, and well washed 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 91 

and soaked to take away the greater part of the 
saltness; or, if you can make some toast butter it 
when cold, cut it into thin strips, and lay a fillet in 
the center. Fill up the sides of the toast with 
chopped hard-boiled yolk of egg. 

Anchovy Sandwiches 

Cut some bread and butter, very thin, and in 
fingers. Chop some water-cress, lay it on a finger, 
sprinkle a little Tarragon vinegar and water 
(equal quantities) over it, and then lay on a fillet 
of anchovy, cover with more cress and a finger of 
bread and butter. Put them in a pile under a 
plate to flatten and before serving trim the edges. 

Anchovy Rounds 

Make some toast, cut it in rounds, butter it when 
cold. Curl an anchovy round a stewed olive, and 
put it on the toast. Make a little border of yolk 
of egg boiled and chopped. 

Anchovy Biscuits 

Made as you would make cheese biscuits, but 
using anchovy sauce instead to flavor them. If 
you make the pastry thin you can put some lettuce 
between two biscuits and press together with a lit- 
tle butter spread inside. 



92 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Anchovy Patties 

Make some paste and roll it out thinly. Take 
a coffee cup and turning it upside down stamp out 
some rounds. Turn the cup the right way again, 
and put it on a round. Then you will see an edge 
of paste protruding all round. Turn this up with 
the end of a fork, which makes a pretty little edge. 
Do this with all, and fill the shallow cases then 
made with a good mayonnaise sauce in which you 
have put chopped celery and potato, and a small 
quantity of chopped gherkins. Lay three fillets 
of anchovy across each other to form a six- 
pointed star and season highly with cayenne 
pepper. 

All the above recipes can be followed using sar- 
dines instead of anchovies, and indeed one can use 
them in many other ways, with eggs, with lettuce, 
with tomatoes. As anchovies are rather expensive 
to buy, I give a recipe for mock anchovies, which 
is easy to do, but it must be done six months be- 
fore using the fish. 

Mock Anchovies 
When sprats are cheap, buy a good quantity, 
what in England you would call a peck. Do not 
either wipe or wash them. Take four ounces of 
saltpeter, a pound of bay salt, two pounds of com- 
con coarse salt, and pound them well, then add a 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 93 

little cochineal to color it, pound and mix very 
well. Take a stone jar and put in it a layer of the 
mixture and a layer of the sprats, on each layer of 
fish adding three or four bay leaves and a few 
whole pepper-corns. Fill up the jar and press it 
all down very firmly. Cover with a stone cover, 
and let them stand for six months before you use 
them. 

Cucumber a la Laeken 

Take a cucumber and cut it in pieces two inches 
long, then peel away the dark green skin for one 
inch, leaving the other inch as it was. Set up 
each piece on end, scoop it out till nearly the bot- 
tom and fill up with bits of cold salmon or lob- 
ster in mayonnaise sauce. Cold turbot or any 
other delicate fish will do equally well or a small 
turret of whipped cream, slightly salted, should 
be piled on top. This dish never fails to please. 

Herring and Mayonnaise 

Take some salt herring, a half for each person, 
and soak them for a day in water. Skin them, cut 
them open lengthwise, take out the backbone, and 
put them to soak in vinegar. Then before serv- 
ing them let them lie for a few minutes in milk, 
and putting them on a dish pour over them a good 
mayonnaise sauce. [Mile. Oclhaye.] 



94 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Sweet Drinks and Cordials. Orgeat 

Blanch first of all half a pound of sweet al- 
monds and three ounces of bitter, turn thern into 
cold water for a few minutes ; then you must pound 
them very fine in a stone mortar, if you have a 
marble one so much the better, and do it in a cool 
place. 

You must add a little milk occasionally to pre- 
vent the paste from becoming oily, then add three 
quarts of fresh milk, stirring it in slowly, sweeten 
to your taste, and then putting all into a saucepan 
clean as a chalice, bring it to the boil. 

Boil for ten minutes, and then stir till cold, 
strain it through finest muslin, and then add two 
good glasses of brandy. Bottle and keep in a 
dark place. 

Hawthorn Cordial 

When the hawthorn is in full bloom, pick a 
basketful of the blooms. Take them home, and 
put the white petals into a large glass bottle, taking 
care that you put in no leaves or stalks. When 
the bottle is filled to the top do not press it down, 
but pour in gently as much good French Brandy 
as it will hold. Cork and let it stand for three 
months, then you can strain it off. This is good 
as a cordial, and if you find it too strong, add 
water, or sweeten it with sugar. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 95 

Dutch Noyeau 

Peel finely the rinds of five large lemons, or of 
six small ones, then throw on it a pound of loaf 
sugar that you have freshly pounded, two ounces 
of bitter almonds, chopped and pounded; mix 
these with two quarts of the best Schnappes or 
Hollands, and add six tablespoonfuls of boiling 
milk. 

Fill your jars with this, cover it close, and put 
it in a passage or hall, where people can shake it 
every day. 

Leave it there for three weeks, and strain it 
through some blotting paper into another bottle. 
It will be ready to drink. 

Lavender Water 

Take a large bottle, and put in it twelve ounces 
of the best spirits of wine, one essence of amber- 
gris, twopennyworth of musk, and three drachms 
of oil of lavender. 

Cork it tightly, put in a dark place, and shake 
it every day for a month. This is really lavender 
spirit, as no water is used. 

Hot Burgundy 
Take half a pint of good Burgundy wine, put 



96 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

it to boil with two cloves, and a dust of mixed 
spice, sweeten to taste with some powdered sugar. 
If you like add a quarter of the quantity of water 
to the wine before boiling. 

Creme de Poisson a la Roi Albert 

Take a fresh raw whiting, fillet it, and pass the 
flesh through a wire sieve. 

For a small dish take four ounces of the fish, 
mix them lightly with four tablespoonfuls of very 
thick cream, adding pepper and salt. Fill an oval 
ring mold, and steam gently for twenty minutes, 
under buttered paper. 

Have some marine crayfish boiled, shell the 
tails, cut them in pieces, removing the black line 
inside. Cut three truffles into thick slices, heat 
them and the crayfish in some ordinary white 
sauce, enriched with the yolk of a raw egg, pepper 
and salt, and one dessertspoonful of tarragon vine- 
gar. This must not be allowed to boil. When 
the cream is turned out into a hot silver dish, pour 
the ragout into the center, and put a hot lid on. 

This dish, and that on page 86-87, nas been com- 
posed by a Scotch lady in honor of the King of 
the Belgians. Not every cook can manage the 
cream, but the proportions are exact, and so is 
the time. [Mrs. Alex. Stuart.] 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 97 

Fish and Custard 

Boil up the trimmings of your fish with milk, 
pepper and salt. Strain it and add the yolks of 
eggs till you get a good custard. Pour the cus- 
tard into a mold, and lay in it your fish, which 
must already be parboiled. If you have cold fish, 
flake it, and mix it with the custard. Put the 
mold in a double saucepan. Steam it for three 
quarters of an hour. Turn it out, and garnish 
with strips of lemon peel, and if you have it, sprigs 
of fennel. 

Hake and Potatoes 

Hake, which is not one of the most delicate fish, 
can be made excellent if stewed in the following 
sauce : A quart of milk to which you have added 
a dessertspoonful of any of the good English 
sauces; thicken it with a knob of butter rolled in 
flour, which stir in till all is smooth. When it 
boils take off the fire, and put in your pieces of 
hake, set it back by the side of the fire to keep 
very hot, without boiling, for twenty-five minutes. 
Meanwhile mash some potatoes, and put it as a 
puree round a dish, pour the fish in the center, 
sprinkle on it chopped parsley. The liquor ought 
to be much reduced. 



98 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Very Nice Skate 
Take skate, or indeed any fish that rolls up 
easily, make into fillets, dry them well, and sprin- 
kle on each fillet, pepper, salt, a dust of mixed 
spice, and chopped parsley. Roll each fillet up 
tightly, and pack them tightly into a dish, so that 
they will not become loose. Take vinegar and 
beer in equal quantities, or, if you do not like to 
use beer, you must add to the vinegar some whole 
black pepper, and a good sprinkle of dried and 
mixed herbs with salt. Pour over the fish, tie a 
piece of buttered paper over the top, and bake for 
an hour and a quarter (for a medium pie dish) in 
a moderate oven. 

To Keep Sprats 
A large quantity of these may be bought cheaply 
and kept for some weeks by this method. Put on 
to warm equal quantities of vinegar and water, 
what you think sufficient to cover your sprats, 
allowing for wastage ; and stir in for every quart 
of liquor a small saltspoonful of mixed spice, 
four bay leaves, a shallot minced, a small bunch 
of bruised thyme, the thin rind of a half lemon, 
salt and pepper; if you can use tarragon vinegar 
so much the better. Clean the sprats, remove 
tails and heads, and lay them in a deep dish. 
Take your liquor and pour it over the fish, tie a 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 99 

large paper over all, and let them bake in a cool 
oven for two or three hours; or cook them in a 
double saucepan ; in any case do them very slowly. 
Put aside to cool, and take out the fish to use as 
required. They will keep good four weeks. 

To Keep Mackerel for a Week 

It sometimes happens that you can get a great 
quantity of this fish, very fresh, cheaply, and wish 
to use it later on. 

Pickle it thus : Boil a pint of vinegar with six 
peppercorns, four cloves, four bay leaves, a scrap 
of mace, a saltspoonful of salt, and the same of 
made mustard. When this is boiled up put it to 
cool. Lay your mackerel prepared ready for eat- 
ing, and sprinkle on each piece some salt, and 
minced thyme. It may be an hour before using. 

Then fry the fish, lifting each piece carefully 
into the hot fat. When fried lay the fish in a 
deep dish, and pour on each piece your vinegar 
liquor till all is covered. 

Cover over with paper such as you use for jam 
pots, well tied down. You can afterwards heat 
the fish as you require. 

A Brown Dish of Fish 

Take your fish, which should be herring or 
mackerel, relieve it of the bones, skin and fins, 



ioo THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

which you must put to boil for three quarters of 
an hour in water, with pepper and salt. After 
that time strain off the liquor, and add to it enough 
browning to color it well. 

Then brown quarter of a pound of butter and 
knead into it two tablespoonfuls of flour, add it, 
when well mixed, to your liquor, with salt and pep- 
per, a piece of lemon peel, and a dust of mixed 
spice. Bring all this to the boil and drop in your 
fish. (Cut in neat fillets.) Let them simmer for 
twenty minutes, and if too dry pour in some darkly 
colored gravy. Just before you wish to serve add 
a good wine glass of claret, or of Burgundy, take 
out the lemon peel, and pour all on a hot dish. If 
you do not wish to put wine, the flavor of the sauce 
is very excellent if you stir into it a dessertspoonful 
of mushroom ketchup, or a teaspoonful of soy. 
This brown fish is nice to follow a white soup. 

Baked Haddocks 

Take all the trimmings of two good sized had- 
docks, cover them with milk and water, and put 
them to simmer. Add chopped parsley, a 
chopped shallot, pepper and salt. 

Cut each fish in half across, and lay them in the 
bottom of a pie dish, sprinkle breadcrumbs, pats 
of butter, pepper and salt, between and on each 
piece. Fill up the dish with water or milk, adding 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 101 

the simmered and strained liquor from the trim- 
mings. 

Bake gently for an hour, and when brown on 
top add more breadcrumbs, and pats of butter. 

Filleted Soles au Fromage 

Boil the filleted soles in water. Make a sauce 
with butter. One spoonful of flour — milk, pep- 
per and salt, powdered cheese (Cheddar). Boil 
it, adding some washed and chopped mushrooms 
and a little cream. Put the filets on a dish and 
pour them over the sauce. Leave it about a quar- 
ter of an hour in the oven, so that it becomes 
slightly browned. [Mdlle. Spreakers.] 

Filleted Fish, with White Sauce and Tomatoes 

Brown two onions in butter, and add a spray of 
parsley, half a pound of tomatoes and a claret 
glassful of white wine. Let this simmer for half 
an hour, and then pass it through the tammy. 
Then fry half a pound of mushrooms, and add 
them and their liquor to the sauce, thickening it, if 
necessary, with a little cornflour. A great im- 
provement is a little liebig. Place your fish in the 
oven, and cook it gently in butter, with pepper and 
salt. When it is done, serve it with the sauce 
poured over it. [Madame Vandervalle.~\ 



102 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

The Miller's Cod 

(Cabillaud meunier) 

Cut your cod in slices, and roll them in flour. 
Put them to fry in a good piece of butter, adding 
chopped parsley, pepper and salt, and the juice of 
one lemon. This is very good, if served in the 
dish that it is cooked in. 

Dutch Herrings 

(A cold dish) 

Take some Dutch, or some salted herrings, and 
remove the skin, backbones, etc. Lay the fish in 
milk for at least twenty-four hours to get the salt 
out. Make a mayonnaise sauce, adding to it the 
roe from the herrings, in small pieces; wipe and 
drain the fish, and pour over them the sauce. 

Remains of Cod 

I 

Take your fish, and remove all bones and skin. 
Put some butter to brown in a saucepan, and when 
it is colored, add the cod, sprinkling in pepper and 
salt and a good thickening of grated breadcrumbs. 
Let this all heat gently by the fire and turn it into 
paper cases, with chopped parsley on the top. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 103 

11 

The above recipe can be followed for making 
fish rissoles, but, after having mixed it well, let it 
grow cold. Then form into balls, roll them in 
breadcrumbs, and throw them into boiling fat. 

ill 

Take all the remains of the fish and heat them in 
butter. Make some mashed potatoes, and add to 
them some white sauce, made of flour, milk and 
butter. Mix this with the fish, so that it is quite 
moist, and do not forget salt and pepper. Place 
the mixture in a fireproof dish and sprinkle bread- 
crumbs over it. Bake for fifteen minutes, or till 
it is hot through, and serve as it is. 

[Mdlle. M. Schmidt, of Antwerp.] 



PART II 



PART II 

The second half of this little book is composed 
chiefly of recipes for dishes that can be made in 
haste, and by the inexperienced cook. But such 
cook can hardly pay too much attention to details 
if she does not wish to revert to an early, not to 
say feral type of cuisine, where the roots were 
eaten raw while the meat was burnt. Because 
your dining-room furniture is Early English, there 
is no reason why the cooking should be early Eng- 
lish too. And it certainly will be, unless one takes 
great trouble with detail. 

Let us suppose that at 7.30 P. M. your husband 
telephones that he is bringing a friend to dine at 8. 
Let us suppose an even more rash act. He ar- 
rives at 7.15, he brings a friend: you perceive the 
unexpressed corollary that the dinner must be bet- 
ter than usual. In such a moment of poignant 
surprise, let fly your best smile (the kind that is 
practiced by bachelors' widows) and say " I am 
delighted you have come like this; do you mind 
eight or a quarter past for dinner? " Then melt 
away to the cook with this very book in your hand. 

I take it that you consider her to be the junior 
107 



108 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

partner in the household, you, of course, being the 
senior, and your husband the sleeping partner in 
it. Ask what there is in the house for an extra 
dish, and I wager you the whole solar system to a 
burnt match that you will find in these pages the 
very recipe that fits the case. A piece of cold veal, 
viewed with an eye to futurity, resolves itself into 
a white creamy delightfulness that melts in your 
mouth ; a new-laid egg, maybe, poached on the top, 
and all set in a china shell. If you have no meat 
at all, you must simply hoodwink your friends with 
the fish and vegetables. 

You know the story of the great Frenchwoman: 

" Helas, Annette, I have some gentlemen com- 
ing to dine, and we have no meat in the house. 
What to do?" 

" Ah ! Madame, I will cook at my best ; and if 
Madame will talk at her best, they will never no- 
tice there is anything wrong." 

But for* the present day, I would recommend 
rather that the gentlemen be beguiled into doing 
the talking themselves, if any shortcoming in the 
menu is to be concealed from them, for then their 
attention will be engaged. 

It takes away from the made-in-a-hurry look of 
a dish if it is decorated, and there are plenty of 
motifs in that way besides parsley. One can use 
beetroot, radishes, carrots cut in dice, minced 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 109 

pickles, sieved egg; and for sweets, besides 
the usual preserved cherries and angelica, you can 
have strips of lemon peel, almonds pointed or 
chopped, stoned prunes cut in halves, wild straw- 
berries, portions of tangerine orange. There is a 
saying, 

Polish the shoe, 

Though the sole be through, 

and a very simple chocolate shape may be made 
attractive by being garnished with a cluster of 
pointed almonds in the center, surrounded by a 
ring of tangerine pieces, well skinned and laid like 
iny crescents one after the other. There is noth- 
ing so small and insignificant but has great possi- 
bilities. Did not Darwin raise eighty seedlings 
from a single clod of earth taken from a bird's 
foot? 

It is to be regretted that Samuel Johnson never 
wrote the manual that he contemplated. " Sir," 
he said, " I could write a better book of cookery 
than has ever yet been written. It should be a 
book on philosophical principles." 

Perhaps the pies of Fleet Street reminded him 
of the Black Broth of the Spartans which the well- 
fed Dionysius found excessively nasty; the tyrant 
was curtly told that it was nothing indeed without 
the seasoning of fatigue and hunger. We do not 



no THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

wish a meal to owe its relish solely to the influence 
of extreme hunger — it must have a beautiful na- 
ture all its own, it must exhibit the idea of Thing- 
in-Itself in an easily assimilable form. 

I am convinced, anyhow, that this little collec- 
tion (formed through the kindness of our Belgian 
friends) will work miracles; for there are plenty 
of miracles worked nowadays, though not by those 
romantic souls who think that things come by them- 
selves. Good dinners certainly do not, and I end 
with this couplet: 

A douce woman and a fu' wame 
Maks King and cottar bide at hame. 

Which, being interpreted, means that if you want a 
man to stay at home, you must agree with him and 
so must his dinner. M. Luck. 



Hors d'CEuvre 

(Herring and Mayonnaise) 

Take some salt herrings, one for each person, 
and soak them for a day in water. Skin them, cut 
them open lengthways, take out the backbone, and 
put them to soak for a day in vinegar. Then be- 
fore serving them, let them lie for a few minutes 
in milk, and, putting them on a dish, pour over 
them a good mayonnaise sauce. 

[Mme. Delhaye.] 

Carrot Soup 

Wash and scrape a pound of carrots, slice them, 
treat two medium sized potatoes in the same man- 
ner, add a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme and a 
chopped onion. Cook all with water, add salt, 
pepper, and cook gently till tender, when pass it 
through a sieve. Put in a pan a lump of butter 
the size of an egg, with a chopped leek and a sprig 
of chervil. Let it cook gently for three or four 
minutes, then pour on the puree of carrots and let 
it all come to the boil before taking it off to serve. 

[Madame StappersJ] 
in 



ii2 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Sorrel Soup 

Take a quart of bouillon or of meat extract and 
water. Fry in butter a carrot, a turnip, an onion, 
a small cabbage, all washed and chopped, and add 
half a teaspoonful of castor sugar. Put your soup 
to it and set on the fire. Let it simmer for twenty 
minutes, add any seasoning you wish and a little 
more water, and let it simmer for another half 
hour. Then shred a bit of basil or marjoram 
with a handful of well washed sorrel, throw them 
in, cook for five minutes, skim it, pour it into a 
soup tureen, and serve. 

Ostend Soup 

There are many varieties of this soup to be met 
with in the different hotels, but it is a white soup, 
made of fish pieces and trimmings, strained, re- 
turned to the pot, and with plenty of cream and 
oysters added before serving. It should never 
boil after the cream is put in. A little mace is 
usual, but no onions or shallot. A simple variety 
is made with flour and milk instead of cream, the 
liquor of the oysters as well as the oysters, and a 
beaten egg added at the last moment. 

\Esperance.~\ 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 113 

Another Sorrel Soup 
Take a tablespoonful of breadcrumbs, moisten 
them in milk in a pan, then add as much water as 
you require. Throw in three medium potatoes, a 
handful of well washed sorrel, and a sprig or two 
of chervil, a lump of butter, pepper, and salt. 
Bring to the boil, simmer for quarter of an hour, 
pass through a tammy, heat again for ten minutes 
and serve burning hot. \_Esperance.] 

Hasty Soup 

Into a quart of boiling water throw lightly four 
tablespoonfuls of semolina, so that the grains are 
separated. Let it boil for a quarter of an hour, 
with pepper and salt. Take the tureen and put 
the yolk of an egg in it with a bit of butter the same 
size, mix them with a fork and pour in a teacupful 
of hot water with extract of meat in it, as strong as 
you wish. Quickly pour in the semolina soup and 
serve it at once. This is a quickly made and inex- 
pensive dish, besides which it is a nice one. 

[Madame Alphonse F.] 

Artichokes a la Vedette 

Boil some globe artichokes in salted water till 
they are tender. Take out the center leaves, leav- 
ing an even fringe of leaves on the outside. Re- 
move as much of the choke as you can. Put them 



ii 4 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

back in a steamer. Toss some cooked peas in 
butter, then mix them in cream and taking up your 
artichokes again put in your cream and peas in the 
center of each, as much as you can get in. The 
cream is not necessary for this dish to be a good 
one, but the artichokes and peas must both be 
young. As a rule people cut their fruit too soon 
and their vegetables too late. 

[Chef reconnaissant.] 

Surprise Potatoes 

Quarter of an hour will suffice to prepare and 
cook this savory surprise, once the potatoes are 
baked. Take three large potatoes of symmetrical 
size, clean and bake them; cut each in two and 
remove the inside without injuring the skin. Melt 
half an ounce of butter by the fire, add two ounces 
of potato passed through a sieve, a teaspoonful of 
grated parmesan, pepper, salt, and a tablespoonful 
of milk. Then stir in the yolk of an egg and 
presently the white, well beaten. Fill the empty 
potato skins with the mixture which ought to rise 
and puff out in ten or twelve minutes. 

Vegetable Salads 

Sometimes one has a few leeks, a half cauli- 
flower, a handful each of peas and beans. Instead 
of currying these vegetables (which removes all 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 115 

distinctive flavor from them) cook them gently, 
and toss them when cold in a good salad dressing. 
If you can give the yolk of an egg to it, so much 
the better. Any cold meat is improved by a side 
dish of this sort. The vegetables that one can 
curry with advantage are large marrows, cut into 
cubes, turnips, potatoes, parsnips. 

[Marguerite Leblanc.~\ 

Tomatoes a la Sir Edward Grey Hommage 

Take some fine firm tomatoes, not very ripe. 
Turn them with the stalk side up and cut a slice off 
the top with a sharp knife. Take out the inside 
with a teaspoon. Break into each tomato a pul- 
let's egg, sprinkle with pepper and salt. The in- 
side of the tomato you will pass through a fine 
wire sieve and it will be a thick liquor; mix it with 
bread-crumbs, salt, pepper, and some grated 
cheese till quite thick. Put this mixture on the 
top of each egg and place all in the oven for three 
or four minutes, so that the eggs are only just set 
and no more. [Amie inconnue.~\ 

Stuffed Carrots 

Take some good sized carrots, and after wash- 
ing them well and cutting off the green tuft, cut 
each one across about two and a half inches from 
the leaves. Scoop out the inside yellow part, 



n6 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

leaving a case of the redder part and a piece to 
form the bottom, at the smaller end. Then stew 
the cases very gently till a little tender, but not 
quite soft. Take them out of the water, drain 
them, and then placing each on its small end, fill 
up with hot chopped mushrooms, that have been 
tossed in butter. Arrange in a circle on a dish, 
and garnish with small sprigs of carrot leaves. 
The insides that you have scooped out are to be 
used for soup flavoring. [Pour la Patrie.] 

To Cook Asparagus 

One should not let the tips of this vegetable 
touch the water. Take your bundle, dip the 
stalks in warm water to remove any dust, and the 
tips also, if it is necessary. Then tie the bundle 
round with tape, keeping the ends of stalks even 
so that it will stand upright. Place them in boil- 
ing water with the heads just sticking out, and keep 
them like that. In this way the heads, which are 
very tender, will be cooked in the steam and will 
not drop off. [Pour la Patr\e.~\ 

Tomatoes in Haste 

Butter a pie-dish, preferably a fireproof china 
dish. Open a tin of tomatoes and remove as 
much skin as you can if they are the unpeeled kind. 
Put a handful of crumbled brown bread in the dish 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 117 

with lumps of butter, then pour on that some toma- 
toes, dust with pepper and salt, then more bread, 
and so on, finishing at the last with lumps of but- 
ter, and a thick sprinkling of grated cheese. Bake 
for twenty minutes. [Pour la Patrie.] 

Kidneys and Lettuce 

Put on some water to boil. Take your lettuce, 
and choose the round kind, and wash it well. 
Take out neatly with your fingers the center leaves, 
and fill up instead with a sheep's kidney which you 
have lightly dusted with flour, pepper, and salt. 
Tie the lettuce round very firmly and set it in a 
pan of boiling water that covers up only three 
quarters of the vegetable. Boil for eighteen min- 
utes. Take out the lettuce, untie it, drain it, and 
serve at once. Kidneys are good when they are 
placed inside large Spanish onions and gently 
stewed, in which case a dab of made mustard is 
given them. 

Tomato Rice 

Put on your rice to boil. Make a tomato sauce 
by stewing them gently, and then rubbing them 
through a sieve; this makes a puree, which you 
must put back to heat with pepper and salt and a 
small quantity of made mustard. Then grate 
some parmesan, or failing that, some Gruyere 



n8 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

cheese. Take off the rice, drain it, keeping it hot, 
put it on a dish and pour over it your puree. 
Then sprinkle the grated chees thickly on top of 
all. [Pour la Patrie.] 

Rice with Eggs 

Boil some rice till it will press closely together. 
Fill some teacups with it, pressing the rice well 
down; then leave a hole in the middle and pour 
into each hole a small raw egg, yolk, and white. 
Set the tea-cups to cook in the oven, and when the 
eggs are just set and no more, press on them some 
more rice. Turn them out of the teacups, and if 
you have rubbed the inside of the cups with a little 
butter this will be easy, and sprinkle over the top 
of each mold plenty of chopped parsley. Do not 
forget salt and pepper to season the ingredients. 

[Pour la Patrie.'] 

Broad Beans in Sauce 

Take your shelled beans, very young and tender. 
Throw them into boiling water for a minute, then 
pour the water away. Heat for a pound of beans 
one and one-half pints of milk, stir in four ounces 
of salt butter, a very little chopped parsley, salt 
and pepper. Do not let the milk boil, but when 
it simmers put in the beans. When they have 
been heated for ten minutes, thicken your sauce 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 119 

with the yolks of two eggs and a tablespoonful of 
cream. Take out a bean and eat it to see if it is 
cooked, and if so, pour all on a hot dish. Garnish 
with fried sippets of bread. Old broad beans can 
be treated in the same way, but they must first be 
skinned. \_Aimee.'] 

Omelette of Peas 

Beat up three eggs, to which add one tablespoon- 
ful of grated cheese, pepper, and salt, and mix 
thoroughly. Butter an omelette pan, and pour in 
the mixture, keep moving it gently with a fork 
while you sprinkle in with the other hand some 
cooked green peas. The omelette will be cooked 
by the time you have sprinkled in two handfuls. 
Slip it off on to a very hot dish, fold over, and 
serve at once. [Jean O.] 

Brussels Artichokes 

Wash well some globe artichokes, and boil them 
in salted water. Meanwhile make a good mush- 
room filling, highly seasoned, of cooked mush- 
room, dipped into butter, pepper, salt, a few 
breadcrumbs, and shreds of ham. Remove the 
center leaves from the vegetable and as much of 
the choke as you can. Fill up with the mushroom 
force and stew gently in brown sauce flavored with 
a bunch of herbs. [F. R.~\ 



120 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Belgian Salad 

is merely endive, washed and torn apart with red 
peppers added here and there as well as the ordi- 
nary salad dressing. 

Belgian asparagus is done by adding to the 
cooked vegetable a bechamel sauce, poured over 
the dish, and then slices of hard boiled eggs placed 
on the top. The giant asparagus is used, and it is 
eaten with a fork. [A Grocer's Wife,'] 

Brussels Carrots 

Cut young carrots in small pieces, blanch them 
in salted water; melt some butter in a stew pan, 
add enough water and meat extract to make suf- 
ficient to cover the carrots, season with pepper, 
salt and a pinch of sugar and toss the carrots in 
this till they are tender. Then add the yolk of 
an egg and a tablespoonful of cream, holding the 
pan just off the fire with the left hand, while you 
stir with the right. When it is well mixed pour all 
out on a vegetable dish and sprinkle over with 
chopped parsley. [Jtnie reconnaissante.~\ 

Carrots and Eggs 

Make the same preparation as above, for the 
sauce, with the same seasonings, but add a dust of 
nutmeg. Then add half a pint of white stock 
which will be enough for a small bunch of carrots ; 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK. 121 

simmer them for fifteen minutes and then break in 
three whole eggs, taking care that they fall apart 
from each other. Let them cook till nearly set 
(for they will go on cooking in the hot sauce after 
you remove them from the fire) and serve at once. 
This is nearly as good if you use old carrots 
sliced, instead of the young ones. 

[M. Zoeben.] 

Cucumbers and Tomatoes 

Take two earthenware pots and put some toma- 
toes to stew in one, in water, pepper, and salt. 
Peel a cucumber, open it, remove the seeds and 
stuff it with any forcemeat that you have; but a 
white one is best. Let it cook gently in some 
brown stock, well covered over. When tender 
put the cucumber along the dish and tomatoes on 
each side. A puree of potatoes can surround 
them. \_A. Vanderverde.~\ 

Red Haricots 

Soak some white haricot-beans over night, or 
stew them till tender in some weak stock. Make 
a tomato sauce in a saucepan, and flavor it rather 
strongly with made mustard, stirring well, so that 
it is well incorporated. When the beans are ten- 
der, drain them from the liquor (keeping them 
hot) and reduce that to half its quantity. Put 



122 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

back the beans and add the tomato sauce, heat for 
a couple of minutes, and serve with three-cornered 
pieces of toast. [Elise et Jean.] 

Potatoes a la Brabanconne 

Boil some potatoes, rub them through a sieve, 
add pepper, salt, and a tablespoonful of cream to 
a pound of potatoes, rub through a tammy again. 
Chop a shallot, a spring or two of parsley and 
mix them in, sprinkling in at the same time a dust 
of nutmeg and a dessertspoonful of grated cheese. 
Place the puree in a dish to be baked, and before 
setting it in the oven sprinkle on the top some 
bread-crumbs, and cheese grated and mixed and 
one or two pats of salt butter. Bake till it is a 
golden brown. [Elise et Jean.] 

Flemish Peas 

Cook some young peas and some carrots 
(scraped and shaped into cones) in separate pans. 
Then put them together in an earthenware close 
covered pan to simmer together in butter and 
gravy, the first water having been well drained 
from them. Season with pepper and salt and let 
them cook gently for ten or twelve minutes ; do not 
uncover the pot to stir it, but shake it every now 
and then to prevent the contents from burning. 

\_Amie inconnue.~\ 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 123 

Chou-Croute 

Take as many white September cabbages as you 
wish, trim them, cut in halves, remove the stalks, 
wash them very thoroughly and shred them pretty 
finely. Procure an earthenware crock and put in 
a layer of cabbage, sprinkle it with coarse salt, 
whole pepper, and juniper berries. Fill up the 
crock in this way, put on the lid, and keep it down 
closely with weights. It will be ready in about six 
weeks' time, when the fermentation has taken 
place. It is good with pork or bacon. 

Spinach Fritters 

Take any cold boiled spinach — though people 
generally eat all that there is — and mix it thickly 
with the yolk of egg and a little rice flour; you may 
add a little powdered sugar. Have ready some 
boiling fat, and drop spoonfuls of the spinach into 
it. If the fat is hot enough the fritters will puff 
out. Drain them quickly and serve very hot. 

Harlequin Cabbages 

Shred some red cabbage, to half a pound of it 
add two medium sized apples, minced finely with- 
out core or skin, a bit of fat bacon, season with 
pepper, salt, vinegar, which should be tarragon vin- 
egar, and put it to simmer in some gravy or milk 
and water. It should cook for an hour over a 



i2 4 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

gentle fire. Cook separately some green cabbage, 
cleaned, boiled till tender in salted water, chopped, 
then put back on a gentle fire with salt, pepper, a 
dust of nutmeg, and some fat or butter. Let it 
heat and mix well, and then serve the two colors 
side by side in the same dish; the red cabbage has 
a sour and the green has a nutty flavor which is 
very agreeable. 

Little Towers of Salad 
Put a couple of eggs on to boil hard, while you 
make a thick mayonnaise sauce. Cut some beet- 
root, some cucumber, some cold potato, some 
tomato into slices. Peel your eggs, and slice 
them, and build up little piles of the different 
things, till about two inches high. Between each 
slice you will sprinkle grated breadcrumbs, pep- 
per, salt, a tiny scrap of chopped raw shallot, 
parsley, all mixed in a cup. Finish with the 
rounded ends of white of egg on the top, put let- 
tuce round and pour the dressing over it. 

Puffs for Friday 

Make a batter of a beaten egg, a dust of rice 
flour, pepper, salt and as much cream as you can 
give. Roll out this batter so thinly that you can 
almost see through it. Cut it into rounds and 
put on it any cooked vegetables that you have, but 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 125 

they must be highly seasoned. Cold potatoes will 
do if they are done with mustard, vinegar, or a 
strong boiled sauce. Fold over the paste, press it 
together at the edges, and fry in hot fat. 

Haddock a la Cardinal 

Take some fillets of haddock, or cod or hake, 
and poach them gently in milk and water. Mean- 
while, prepare a good white sauce, and in another 
pan a thick tomato sauce, highly seasoned, colored 
with cochineal if need be, and as thick as a good 
cream. Lay the fillets when cooked one each on 
a plate, put some of the white sauce round it, and 
along the top put the tomato sauce which must not 
run down. A sprig of chervil is to be placed at 
each end of the fillet. [Seulette.] 

Skate Stew 

Put the fins, skin, trimmings of skate into water 
enough to cook them, with pepper and salt and 
simmer for half an hour. Strain it through a fine 
sieve. Make a brown sauce of butter and flour, 
pepper, salt, adding a little milk, about a teacupful 
for a pound of skate, then squeeze in the juice of 
half a lemon, and if you have it, a glass of white 
wine. Take the skate, cut it in pieces, simmer it 
in salted water; when cooked, strain away the 
water, dish the fish, pouring over it the above 



126 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

sauce. Decorate with strips of lemon peel laid in 
a lattice-work down the center. [Une epiciere.] 

To Dress Coarse Fish 

Any fish is good if dressed in this way. Make 
a brown sauce, well flouring it with salt, pepper, 
and dried herbs. Mince and fry a shallot and add 
it, then a large glass of red wine, a few drops of 
lemon juice. Cook some fish roe, sieve it, and 
stir it into the sauce. Take your fish and simmer 
it in milk and water till cooked, then heat it up 
quickly in the sauce to serve. [F. R.] 

Flemish Salad 

This is fillets of herring, laid in a bowl with 
slices of apple, beetroot, cold potatoes, and cold 
cooked sprouts, covered with the ordinary salad 
dressing. If the fish is salted, let it soak first of 
all in milk to take away the greater part of the salt. 
This is a winter dish, but the same sort of thing 
is prepared in summer, substituting cold cooked 
peas, cauliflower, artichokes, beans, with the fish. 

[Amie reconnaissante.'] 

Flemish Sauce 

This popular sauce is composed of melted but- 
ter thickened with yolk of egg and flavored with 
mustard; it is used greatly for fish. 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 127 

Beef Squares 
If you have a small piece of very good beef, 
such as rump steak or fillet of beef, it is more eco- 
nomical to cut it into squares, and grill it lightly 
at a clear fire. Have ready some squares of toast, 
buttered and hot, lay these on a hot dish with a bit 
of steak on the top, and on the top of that a slice 
of tomato much peppered and salted and a small 
pile of horse-radish. This makes a pretty dish 
and can be varied by using capers or chopped gher- 
kins instead of horse-radish. It is a great saving 
to cut meat, bread, etc., in squares instead of 
rounds. [Une amie au convent.'] 

Imitation Cutlets 

A dish that I have done for those who like curry 
flavoring is the following. Take any cold cooked 
vegetables, and cutting them in small pieces, roll 
them in a thick white sauce which you have 
strongly flavored with curry. Put it aside to get 
firm. If you are in a hurry you can bind with the 
yolk of an egg in the flour and make a thick batter 
in that way. Form into cutlets and fry as you 
would a real cutlet. The same thing can be done 
with macaroni or spaghetti that is already cooked, 
with cold fish or anything that is insipid to the 
taste. \_Une amie au convent.] 



128 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Kidneys with Madeira 
Use either sheep or pigs' kidneys. Cut them 
longways, so as to be able to take out the threads 
from the inside of them. Put some butter on to 
fry over a brisk fire and when it is browned, but 
not burnt, put in the kidneys for three or four min- 
utes. Take them out and keep them hot for a 
minute while you add to the butter they were 
cooked in a soupspoonful of Madeira wine, a good 
dust of chopped parsley, a little cayenne pepper 
and salt. Mix it well, and if too thick add a little 
gravy. Pour the sauce over the kidneys and finish 
with a powdering of chopped parsley. Fried po- 
tatoes are eaten with this dish. 

\_Mme. Vanderbelle Genotte.] 

Pigs' Trotters in Blanquette 
Any part of pork or veal is good done in this 
way. Take your pieces of meat and fry them in 
butter till they are a good golden brown color. 
Put them in a pan, covering them with water, and 
adding a sliced onion, a bay leaf, a whole carrot, a 
leek, pepper, salt, — let it all simmer gently over a 
slow fire till the meat is cooked but not boiled. 
Take the pieces from the liquor and pass it 
through a sieve. Mix a little rice flour in a cup of 
cold water, stirring well. Drop in the juice of 
half a lemon and the beaten yolk of an egg^ which 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 129 

stir round quickly. Put in the meat again for a 
moment and serve it with boiled potatoes. 

Loin of Mutton in the Pot 

Put in an earthenware pot three shallots, finely 
minced; take a bit of garlic, cut it close and rub it 
round the side of the pot; put in as well a lump of 
butter, pepper and salt, and some rather fat gravy. 
Divide the loin and put six chops in to simmer for 
three quarters of an hour on a moderate fire, cov- 
ering the pot with the lid. Before you serve it, 
stir in a little lemon juice and stir up the sauce. 
To be served with Cauliflower a la Aerschot as 
follows : Cut your cauliflower into medium pieces, 
seeing that it is very clean, while you have some 
salted water boiling up. Put in the pieces, boil till 
tender, then drain them on a sieve. Put leaves 
and trimming of the vegetable into the pot to sim- 
mer and serve as basis for a vegetable soup. 
Make a good white sauce, adding the yolk of an 
egg, and flavoring it with nutmeg. Put the vege- 
table on a dish and pour over the sauce, letting it 
stand for a few moments by the fire before it is 
eaten. [Madame Herman Noppen.~\ 

Ox Tongue with Spinach and White Sauce 

Boil the tongue in salted water till the outer skin 
will peel off. Take this off, then put the tongue 



i 3 o THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

back in the liquor to simmer while you prepare the 
same. Take a piece of butter the size of an egg, 
melt it and mix it with two dessertspoonfuls of 
ground rice, add some of the liquor, pepper, and 
salt, stir well, so that it makes a good cream; drop 
in the yolks of two eggs, always stirring, and a little 
lemon juice. Serve the tongue whole with this 
sauce poured over it and spinach done in the fol- 
lowing way: Wash the spinach in running water 
till every bit of grit has gone. Put some water on 
to boil, salt it well, and throw in the spinach which 
you have freed from mid-rib and stalk. The 
water must be boiling and the fire brisk. When 
tender, pass the spinach through the sieve, then 
put a bit of butter into an enameled saucepan, then 
the spinach, which heat for six minutes, add a little 
pepper. Serve it with the tongue, and you can 
garnish as well with little croutons of bread fried 
in butter. [Madame Herman Noppen.] 

Veal Fritters 

If you have only a little piece of veal or other 
cold meat, you can make a very presentable dish 
in the following way: Cut a thin slice of meat 
and spread on each side of it a layer of mashed po- 
tatoes to which you have added some tomato 
sauce. Beat up an egg and dip the slices and 
potato into it, lay them in fine breadcrumbs and 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 131 

fry them till a good golden color in plenty of fat. 
Send them to table under a hot cover. 

[Pour la Patrie.~\ 

Stewed Beef 

If you are obliged to make a hot dish in a hurry 
and have only a piece of inferior meat, there is no 
better way of using it than by dressing it in the 
Brabant way, which is rather expensive. Clean 
and cook some mushrooms, and when fried lightly, 
add them and their liquor to your beef, cut up in 
small pieces, but not minced. Add pepper, salt, a 
dust of spices, or an onion with three or four 
cloves in it, and a half bottle of good red wine. 
Stew all together for at least twenty minutes, take 
out the onion and cloves, and serve in the dish it 
was cooked in which should be an earthenware pot. 

[Pour la Patrie.~] 

A Mutton Salad 

Cut some slices of cold mutton or lamb, remov- 
ing every bit of fat and skin that you can, unless 
that destroys the firmness of the slice. Prepare 
a salad of lettuce, and if you cannot give a mayon- 
naise sauce, add to the lettuce plenty of sliced 
cucumber, for that keeps the mutton moist. Put 
the salad on each slice and roll the meat over as 
tightly as you can. Lay the rolls closely together 



132 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

in a dish and sprinkle a very little salad dressing 
over them. This way of doing meat is very use- 
ful for taking to picnics, or for taking on a long 
journey. [Pour la Patrie.~\ 

Sausage Patties 

Half a pound of sausage meat of any kind that 
you like. Make some rounds of paste, lay the 
meat on half of each round and fold over. Steam 
for quarter of an hour, or stew in plenty of gravy. 

[Pour la Patrie.] 

Sausage and Potatoes 

Roll some cooked sausage meat in mashed pota- 
toes, making a roll for each person. Brush the 
potatoes over with milk and put them to bake till 
nicely browned. Decorate with gherkins on each 
roll of butter. [Pour la Patrie.] 

Ragout of Cold Meat 

Take any cold meat that you have, free it from 
fat and skin and cut it in rounds like a five-franc 
piece. If you have some lean bacon or ham, a 
little of that should be added. I should tell you 
first of all to put some rice on to boil in boiling 
water. Make a sauce of flour and butter in a pan, 
adding gravy if you happen to have it, but failing 
that, use water and vinegar in equal parts to thin 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 133 

it; season with pepper and salt and a small spoon- 
ful of anchovy sauce. When the sauce is heating, 
put in the meat and cover the pan, let it all heat 
for twelve minutes and then place meat and sauce 
in the middle of a dish. By this time the rice may 
be tender. Drain it well and put it as a border to 
the stew. [Jimee.] 

A Quickly Made Stew 

Put a piece of butter in a stewpan, with an onion 
cut in pieces, a few cloves, salt and pepper, a table- 
spoonful of shredded parsley, and if you have it 
some good gravy or meat juice and water. 
Throw into the sauce some cold meat, preferably 
underdone, and after it has simmered for fifteen 
minutes take a cut onion and rub with it the bot- 
tom of the dish that you are going to use. Take a 
good glass of red wine, such as Burgundy and mix 
it with the yolk of an egg, stir this into the stew 
and serve up in a couple of minutes. 

\_Madame Groubet.~\ 

Grenadines of Veal 

Take a fireproof dish, and after sprinkling it 
with breadcrumbs put in it a layer of roast veal in 
slices, a layer of mashed potatoes, a layer of veal 
kidney, partly cooked, and cut into pieces and 
lastly a layer of potato. Cover the whole with a 



i 3 4 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

bechamel sauce into which you have stirred some 
grated cheese; put it to bake in the oven. Then 
make a brown sauce with any veal or kidney gravy 
that you have, and cook some mushrooms in it with 
pepper and salt; the sauce is to be served with the 
grenadine. 

Hoche Pot 

Slice an onion and fry it in butter till it is brown ; 
add pieces of pork and of mutton freed from fat 
and skin; cover them with water and throw into it 
any kinds of vegetables that you may have; but 
particularly sliced carrots and turnips and green 
cabbages; put it in the oven to cook. In another 
saucepan boil some white haricot beans, salt, and 
pepper, until they are tender, when they must be 
added to the stew with a small quantity of the 
liquor that they have been boiled in. 

Pigeon and Cabbage Rolls 

Take two pigeons, two cabbages, four slices of 
fried bacon, an ounce of butter, a large wineglass- 
ful of sherry, and some gravy. Truss your pi- 
geons and cook them in butter for ten minutes in a 
fireproof dish. Then take them out, cut them into 
neat pieces. Meanwhile have the cabbages boiled 
in salted water. Drain them. Cut them in small 
pieces and roll some up in each slice of bacon ; lay 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 135 

the pigeons on top, pouring over them the liquor 
they were cooked in and half the wine. Put all in 
the oven for ten minutes — pour in the rest of the 
wine and leave for another ten minutes before 
serving. If you have stock to add to this it is 
an improvement, or put half a teaspoonful of meat 
extract to half a pint of water. \_Une refugiee.~\ 

Remains of Sausage 

If you have a few inches of a big sausage cut it 
into as thick slices as you can — fry them and lay 
them in a circle on a dish with a poached egg on 
each. Little dinner breads are good when soaked 
in milk, stuffed with sausage meat, and fried. It 
can be used to stuff cucumber, or eggplants, but 
you should then crumble up the meat and bind it 
with the yolk of a raw egg. 

\Mme. Georgette.] 

Shoulder of Lamb a la Beige 

Braise your shoulder of lamb ; that is, put it in a 
closely covered stewpan, in a good brown sauce or 
gravy with the vegetables, to be served with it. 
It is the lid being closed that makes the meat take 
some flavor from the vegetables. To do it in the 
Belgian way, take some good white turnips, wash 
them and scrape them, put small ones in whole, 
large ones cut in half. Take some small cabbages, 



136 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

trim off without leaves, cut them in half, remove 
the stalk, make a hollow in the center and fill it 
with forcemeat of any kind; but sausage meat is 
good. Place the stuffed cabbages round the meat 
to cook gently at the same time. 

[Madame Vershagen.] 

Fillet of Beef a la Brabanconne 

Take a whole fillet of beef, trim it neatly and 
set it in a braising pan to cook very slowly in some 
good brown sauce to which you have added a pint 
of stock. Put in neatly shaped carrots and tur- 
nips and some balls made of mashed potato al- 
ready fried. Keep hot in two sauceboats a puree 
of Brussels sprouts and a puree of onions. These 
are prepared by cooking the vegetables in water, 
then chopping fine, and rubbing through a sieve 
with cream, or with a little good milk, pepper, and 
salt. To serve the fillet, lay it on a dish with the 
carrots and turnip, potato cakes round; pour over 
it the rest of the brown sauce from the pan; then 
add in heaps the onion puree and the sprouts 
puree. [Madame Vershagen.~\ 

Stewed Beef 

An inferior part of beef may be made to taste 
excellent if it is braised; that is, simmered with the 
cover on slowly, in company with onions (already 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 137 

fried) and well washed pieces of carrots and whole 
turnips. Put on also some small cabbages cut in 
halves, and if you can give it, a glass of good red 
wine. [Une refugiee.] 

Beef and Apricots 

Stew your beef, say three pounds of steak, in 
some gravy, adding to a pint of liquor a level tea- 
spoonful of white sugar. Throw in a handful of 
the dried apricots, but be sure you wash them well 
first. This dish is generally accompanied by leeks, 
first blanched for a few moments, and then put in 
the stew. Flavor with salt, pepper, and the rind 
of half a lemon which remove before you serve the 
stew. For English taste the sugar could be 
omitted. [Seulette.J 

For an Invalid 

This must be begun at least three hours before 
it will be required. Take two ounces of pearl bar- 
ley, wash it well, and put it in cold water enough 
to cover it, for an hour. Take a pound of good 
steak, shred it in small pieces, and put it in an 
enameled saucepan with a quart of cold water and 
a sprinkle of salt. Strain the water from the bar- 
ley and add this last to the meat, and let it simmer 
for two hours. Then strain off the liquor and 
pound the meat and barley in a mortar, rub it 



138 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

through a sieve ; when it is a smooth puree put it 
back into the pan with its liquor and a gill of 
cream. Let it simmer again for a moment and 
serve it in a cup with a lid to it. 

[Madame A. F.] 

Invalids' Eggs 

Cut out some rounds of bread a good deal larger 
than a poached egg would be. While these are 
frying, make a puree of Brussels sprouts. Boil 
them till tender, squeeze in a cloth. Rub them 
through a sieve and make into a very thick puree 
with cream, pepper and salt. Poach a fresh egg 
for each crouton, and slip it on, very quickly, put 
some of the green puree round, and serve under a 
hot cover. 

A Sweet for the Children 

If you have some little breads over, cut each one 
in four, soak the pieces in milk sweetened and 
flavored with vanilla, for three hours. When 
they are well soaked roll them for a moment in 
grated and dried breadcrumbs, and dip them for a 
moment in boiling fat, just as you would do cro- 
quettes. Sift some white sugar over them and 
serve very hot. [Madame M.] 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 139 

Quince Custard 
When you have quince preserves by you this is 
a quickly prepared dish. Make a good custard 
with a pint of rich milk, four eggs and a little es- 
sence of almonds and two ounces of powdered 
sugar. Put your quince preserve at the bottom of 
a fireproof circular dish and fill up with custard. 
Put it to bake for half or hour or till set. When 
set add some more quince (heated) on the top 
with some chopped almonds and serve hot. The 
same dish can be done with apples, which should 
be stewed, flavored with the rind of a half lemon, 
and passed through a sieve. Apple puree is put 
on the top in the same way, and it is decorated with 
some thin lemon peel cut into stars. 

[Chef reconnaissant.] 

Yellow Plums and Rice 
Put half a pound of rice in hot milk till it has 
absorbed all it can and is tender. Beat lightly the 
yolks of three eggs, beating in a lump of fresh but- 
ter the size of a pullet's egg; add powdered sugar 
and the whites of the eggs well beaten. Put the 
rice into this mixture and place all in a mold. 
Cook it gently for twenty-five minutes. Mean- 
while take some very perfect yellow plums, skin 
and stone them and heat them in half a bottle of 
light white wine that you have seasoned with a 



HO THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

little spice. Turn out the rice, put the yellow 
plums on the top and pour round the sauce, 
strained through muslin. Very good cold. 

Brabant Pancake 

Butter first of all your pancakes, and you should 
have proper pancake saucers fit to go to table. 
Heat half a pint of sweetened milk and melt a 
quarter of a pound of salt butter with it. When 
well melted pour it into a basin and sprinkle in 
nearly three ounces of flour. Beat up the yolks of 
three large or four small eggs and incorporate 
them, then add the whites well beaten. Put a 
spoonful or two on each saucer and set to bake in 
the oven for ten minutes and when done place each 
saucer on a plate with a good lump of apricot jam 
on each. If you have no pancake saucers, put the 
apricot preserve on one half of each pancake and 
fold it up. [Jean O.] 

Delicious Sauce for Puddings 

To a large wineglassful (say a glass for cham- 
pagne wine) of new Madeira add the yolks only 
of two eggs. Put in a very clean enamel saucepan 
over the fire and stir in powdered sugar to your 
taste. Whisk it over the fire till it froths, but do 
not allow it even to simmer. Use for Genoese 
cakes and puddings. [Madame Groubet.] 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 141 

Fruit Jellies 

Jellies that are very well flavored can be made 
with fresh fruit, raspberries, strawberries, apri- 
cots, or even rhubarb, using the proportions of one 
ounce of gelatine (in cold weather) to every pound 
of fruit puree. In hot weather use a little less 
gelatine. As the fruit generally gives a bad color, 
you must use cochineal for the red jellies and a 
little green coloring for gooseberry jellies. The 
gelatine is of course melted in the fruit puree and 
all turned into a mold. You can make your own 
green coloring in this way. Pick a pound of spin- 
ach, throwing away the stalks and midrib. Put it 
on in a pan with a little salt and keep the cover 
down. Let it boil for twelve minutes. Then put 
a fine sieve over a basin and pour the spinach water 
through it. Strain the spinach water once or twice 
through muslin; it will be a good color and will 
keep some time. Orange and lemon jellies are 
much more wholesome when made at home than 
those made from bought powders. To the juice 
of every six oranges you should add the juice of 
one lemon, and you will procure twice as much 
juice from the fruit if, just before you squeeze it, 
you let it soak in hot water for three or four min- 
utes< [Pour la Patrie.'] 



i 4 2 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Strawberry Fancy- 
Take a slice or two of plain sponge cake and cut 
out rounds two inches across. Then whip up in 
a basin the whites only of four eggs, coloring them 
with the thinner part of strawberry jam. As a 
rule this jam is not red enough, and you must add 
a little cochineal. Put the pink mixture in high 
piles on the cakes. [Pour la Patrie.] 

Pink Rice 

This sweet is liked by children who are tired of 
rice pudding. Boil your rice and when tender mix 
in with it the juice of a boiled beetroot to which 
some sugar has been added. Turn it into a mold 
and when cold remove it and serve it with a spoon- 
ful of raspberry preserve on the top or with some 
red plums round it. [Pour la Patrie. ] 

Military Prunes 

Take some of the best French preserved prunes, 
and remove the stones. Soak them in orange 
curagoa for as long a time as you have at your 
disposal. Then replace each stone by a blanched 
almond, and place the prunes in small crystal 
dishes. [Pour la Patrie.'] 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 143 

Madeline Cherries 

Take some Madeleine cakes and scoop them out 
to form baskets. Fill these with stoned cherries 
both white and black that you have soaked in a 
good liqueur — cherry brandy is the best but you 
may use maraschino. Place two long strips of 
angelica across the top and where these intersect a 
very fine stoned cherry. [Pour la PatrieJ\ 

Strawberry Tartlets 

It often happens that you have among the 
strawberries a quantity that are not quite good 
enough to be sent to table as dessert, and yet not 
enough to make jam of. Put these strawberries 
on to heat, with some brown sugar, and use them 
to fill small pastry tartlets. Pastry cases can be 
bought for very little at the confectioner's. Cover 
the top of the tartlet when the strawberry conserve 
is cold with whipped cream. [Pour la Patrie.~\ 

Madeira Eggs or CEufs a la Grand'mere 

Break the yolk of an egg in a basin and be sure 
that it is very fresh ; beat it up, adding a little pow- 
dered sugar, and then, drop by drop, enough of 
the best Madeira to give it a strong flavor. This 
makes a nice sweet served in glass cups and it is 
besides very good for sore throats. 

[Pour la Patrie.~\ 



i 4 4 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

Butterflies 

You will get at the confectioner's small round 
cakes that are smooth on the top; they are plain, 
and are about two and one-half inches across. 
Take one and cut it in halves, separating the top 
from the bottom. Cut the top pieces right across ; 
you have now two half moons. Put some honey 
along the one straight edge of each half moon and 
stick it by that on the lower piece of cake, a little 
to one side. Do the same with the second half 
moon, so that they both stick up, not unlike wings. 
Fill the space between with a thick mixture of 
chopped almonds rolled in honey, and place two 
strips of angelica poking forward to suggest an- 
tennae. A good nougat will answer instead of 
the honey. [Pour la Patrie.~\ 

Cherry and Strawberry Compote 

Take half a pint of rich cream and mix with it a 
small glassful of Madeira wine or of good brandy. 
Pick over some fine cherries and strawberries, 
stoning the cherries, and taking out the little center 
piece of each strawberry that is attached to the 
stalk. Lay your fruit in a shallow dish and cover 
it with the liquor and serve with the long sponge 
biscuits known as " langues de chat" (Savoy fin- 
gers). [Amitie aux Anglais.~\ 



THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 145 

Chocolate Custard 

To make a nice sweet in a few minutes can be 
easily managed if you follow this recipe. Make a 
custard of rich milk and yolks of eggs, sweeten it 
with sugar, flavored with vanilla, and if you have 
a little cream add that also. Then grate down 
some of the best chocolate, as finely as you can, 
rub it through coarse muslin so that it is a fine pow- 
der. Stir this with your custard, always stirring 
one way so that no bubbles of air get in. When 
you have got a thick consistency like rich cream, 
pour the mixture into paper or china cases, sprinkle 
over the tops with chopped almonds. There is no 
cooking required. 

Gooseberry Cream Without Cream 

Take your goseberries and wash them well, cut 
off the stalk and the black tip of each. Stew them 
with sugar till they are tender, just covered in 
water. Do not let them burn. If you have not 
time to attend to that put them in the oven in a 
shallow dish sprinkled with brown sugar. When 
tender rub them through a fine sieve at least twice. 
Flavor with a few drops of lemon juice, and add 
sugar if required. Then beat up a fresh egg in 
milk and add as much arrowroot or cornflour as 
will lie flat in a salt spoon. Mix the custard with 



146 THE BELGIAN COOK BOOK 

the gooseberries, pass it through the sieve once 
more and serve it in a crystal bowl. 

[Mdlle. B-M.] 

Chocolate Puddings 

Make some Genoese cake mixture as you would 
for a light cake, and pour it into greased molds 
like cups. You can take the weight of one egg in 
dried flour, butter, and rather less of sugar. Beat 
the butter and sugar together to a cream, sprinkle 
in the flour, stirring all the time, a pinch of salt, 
and then the beaten egg. When your little cakes 
are baked, turn them out of the molds and when 
cool turn them upside down and remove the inside, 
leaving a deep hole and a thin crust all round. 
Fill up this hole with the custard and chocolate as 
above, and let it grow firm. Then turn the cases 
right way up and pour over the top a sweet cherry 
sauce. You may require the yolks of two eggs to 
make the custard firm. [Mdlle. B-M.] 



INDEX 



Anchovy Biscuits, 91 

" Patties, 92 

" Rounds, 91 

" Sandwiches, 91 
Anchovies, 90 

" Mock, 92 

Apples, a new dish of, 60 
Apples and Sausages, 19 
Artichokes a la Vedette, 113 
Artichokes, Brussels, 119 
Asparagus a l'Anvers, 15 
Asparagus, To Cook, 116 
Aubergine or Egg Plant, 88 

Banana Compote, 61 

Beans, a Dish of Haricot, 22 

" Broad, in Sauce, 118 
Beef a la Bourguignonne, 31 
Beef a la Mode, 32 
Beef, Blankenberg, 34 

" Caretaker's, 33 

" Fillet of, a la Braban- 
conne, 136 

M Roast Rump of, Borde- 
laise Sauce, 30 

" Roasted Fillet of, 31 

" Stewed, 131, 136 
Beef and Apricots, 137 
Beef Squares, 127 
Brussels Sprouts, 28 
Boeuf a la Flamande, 32 
Bouchees a la Reine, 76 
Brabant Pancake, 140 
Burgundy, Hot, 95 



Butterflies, 144 

Cabbage, Red, 15, 25 
Cabbage and Potatoes, 21 
Cabbage with Sausages, 12 
Cabbages, Harlequin, 123 
Cake, Mocha, 57 
Calf's Liver a la Bourgeoise, 35 
Carbonade, Flemish, 69, 70 
Carbonade of Flanders, 77 
Carbonades done with Beer, 

73 

Carrots, Belgian, 24 
" Brussels, 120 
" Flemish, 88 
Stuffed, 115 

Carrots and Eggs, 120 

Cauliflower a la Reine Eliza- 
beth, 26 

Cauliflower and Shrimps, 24 

Cauliflower, Dressed, 27 
Stuffed, 17 

Celeris au Lard, 12 

Cheese Fondants, 82 

Cheese Limpens, 80 

Cherry and Strawberry Com- 
pote, 144 

Cherries, Madeline, 143 

Chicken a la Max, 46 

Chicory, 26 

Chicory a la Ferdinand, 19 

Chicory and Ham with 
Cheese Sauce, 74 

Chicory, Stuffed, 20 



147 



148 



INDEX 



Children's Birthday Dish, 

The, 49 
Chinese Corks, 80 
Chou-Croute, 123 
Cod, Remains of, 102 

" The Miller's, 102 
Cordial, Hawthorn, 94 
Cream, Chocolate, 50, 52, 62 

" Rum, 58 
Vanilla, 58 
Creme de Poisson a la Roi 

Albert, 96 
Croquettes of Boiled Meat, 72 
Croquettes of Veal, 74 
Croquettes, Cheese, 82 
" Potato, 89 

Cucumber a la Laeken, 93 
Cucumbers and Tomatoes, 121 
Custard, Chocolate, 145 
Cutlets, Imitation, 127 

Delicious Sauce for Puddings, 
140 

Egg Plants as Souffle, 89 
Eggs a la Ribeaucourt, 67 
Eggs, a Difficult Dish of, 84 

" Belgian, 67 

" Country, 85 

" French, 85 

" Madeira or CEufs a la 
Grand'mere, 143 

" Peasants', 63 

" Poached, Tomato 

Sauce, 66 

" Stuffed, 65 
Eggs and Mushrooms, 66 
Endive, Flemish, 23 
Entree (Croque-Monsieur), 75 
11 Walloon, 73 

Fish, 71 
" a Brown Dish of, 99 



Fish, Filleted, with White 
Sauce and Tomatoes, 
101 
" Remains of, 71 
" To Dress Coarse, 126 
Fish and Custard, 97 
Four Quarters, 54 
Frangipani, A, 49 
Fricadelle, 74 
Friday's Feast, 15 
Fritters, Apple, 53 
Fruit, 58 
" Semolina, 55 
" Spinach, 123 
Veal, I3 o 
Fruit Jellies, 141 

Gaufres from Brussels, 56 
Gingerbread, Belgian, 53 
Gooseberry Cream without 
Cream, 145 

Haddock a la Cardinal, 125 
Haddocks, Baked, 100 
Hake and Potatoes, 97 
Ham with Madeira Sauce, 84 
Ham, York, Sweetbreads, 

Madeira Sauce, 83 
Hare, 48 

" Hunter's, 43 
Haricots, Red, 121 
Herring and Mayonnaise, 93 
Herrings, Dutch, 102 
Hoche Pot, 134 
Hoche Pot Gantois, 79 
Hoche Pot of Ghent, 77 
Hors d'CEuvre, 90, in 
Hot Pot, 76 

Invalid, for an, 137 
Invalid's Eggs, 138 

Kid, Roast, with Venison 
Sauce, 45 



INDEX 



149 



Kidneys and Lettuce, 117 
Kidneys with Madeira, 128 

Lamb, Shoulder of, a la 

Beige, 135 
Lavender Water, 95 
Leeks a la Liegeoise, 13 
Lettuce, Cooked, 16 

Mackerel, to Keep for a 

Week, 99 
Meat, Cold, Ragout of, 132 
" Scraps of, 73 
" To Use Up Cold, 69 
11 To Use Up Remains of, 
67 
Mutton, a Use for Cold, 70 
Collops, 29 
" Loin of, in the Pot, 

129 
11 Ragout of, 28 
" Shoulder of, 29 
" Shoulder of, Dressed 

Like Kid, 29 
" Stew, 78 

Stewed Shoulder of, 
28 
Mushrooms a la Spinette, 27 
Mushrooms, Gourmands', 17 

CEufs Celestes, Hommage a 

Sir Edward Grey, 86 
Omelette, Asparagus, 65 
" Mushroom, 65 
" of Peas, 119 
Rum, 48 
Ox Tongue, 37 
Ox-Tongue a la Bourgeoise, 

32 
Ox Tongue with Spinach and 
White Sauce, 129 

Pains Perdus, 56 

Pastry, Excellent Paste for, 52 



Peas, Flemish, 122 

Petites Caisses a la Furnes, 86 

Pigeon and Cabbage Rolls, 

134 

Pigeons, Fricassee of, 43 

Pigs' Trotters in Blanquette, 
128 

Pineapple a PAnvers, 58 

Pommes Chateau, 18 

Potato Dice, 90 

Potatoes, Chipped, 19 
" Surprise, 114 

Potatoes a la Brabanconne, 
122 

Potatoes and Cheese, 14, 83 

Potatoes in the Belgian Man- 
ner, 22 

Pouding aux Pommes, 59 

Prunes, Military, 142 
" Stewed, 50 

Puddings, Chocolate, 146 

Puffs for Friday, 124 

Puree of Chestnuts, 89 

Quince Custard, 139 

Rabbit, 48 

Baked, 46 
" Flemish, 44 
" Laeken, 47 
Rabbit a la Bordelaise, 46 
Rice, Golden, 61 
" Pink, 142 
" Richelieu, 51 
" Saffron, 54 
Rice a la Conde, 56 
Rice with Eggs, 118 
Rissoles, Good, 72 
Riz Conde, 61 

Salad, Belgian, 120 
" Flemish, 126 
" Little Towers of, 124 
" a Mutton, 131 



150 



INDEX 



Salad, of Tomatoes, 13 

" Vegetable, 26 
Salads, Vegetable, 114 
Sauce au Diable, 43 
Sauce, Bearnaise, 40 

" Bordelaise, 41 

" Cream, 42 

" Dutch, for Fish, 39 

" Flemish, 126 

" Maitre d'Hotel, 42 

" Muslin, 40 

" Poor Man's, 41 

" The Good Wife's, 42 
Sausage and Potatoes, 132 
Sausage Patties, 132 
Sausage, Remains of, 135 
Skate, Stew, 125 

" Very Nice, 98 
Snowy Mountains, 51 
Soles, Filleted, au Fromage, 

101 
Souffle, Apricot, 49 

" Au Chocolat, 60 
Baked, 63 
Cheese, 81, 82 

" Kidney, 62 

" Semolina, 51 
Soup, A Good Belgian, 5 

" A Good Pea, 3 

" Ambassador, 6 

" Another Sorrel, 113 

" Belgian Puree, 5 

" Carrot, in 

" Cauliflower, 1 

" Chervil, 3 

" Cream of Asparagus, 9 

" Crecy (Belgian recipe), 
6 

" Fish, 2 

" Flemish, 6 

" Green Pea, 9 

" Hasty, 113 

" Immediate, or Ten 
Minutes, 2 



Soup, Leek, 11 

" Mushroom Cream, 10 

" Onion, 7 

" Ostend, 112 

" Potage Leman, 8 

" Sorrel, 112 

" The Soldiers' Vege- 
table, n 

" Starvation, 2 

" Tomato, 8 

H Tomato Puree, 7 

" Vegetable, 10 

" Waterzoei, 4 
Sparrows, Headless, 78 
Speculoos, 55 
Sprats, To Keep, 98 
Spinach a la Braconniere, 21 
Stew, A Quickly Made, 133 
Strawberry Fancy, 142 
Strawberry Tartlets, 143 
Sweet Drinks and Cordials, 

Orgeat, 94 
Sweet for the Children, A, 

138 

Tomato Rice, 117 

Tomatoes, a la Sir Edward 

Grey Hommage, 115 
Tomatoes and Eggs, 64 

" and Eggs, Two 
Recipes for, 64 
Tomatoes and Shrimps, 23 
Tomatoes in Haste, 116 
Tomatoes, Stuffed, 25 

" Stuffed with Beans, 

21 

Veal, Breast of, 37 
" Blanquette of, 36 
" Fricandeau of, 35 
" Grenadines of, 133 
" Grenadins of, 35 
Veal a la Creme, 39 
Veal a la Milanaise, 38 



INDEX 



151 



Veal Cake, 68 

" Excellent for Sup- 

per, 36 
Veal Cutlets with Madeira 

Sauce, 35 
Veal Liver Stuffed, or Liver 
a la Panier d'Or, 38 



Veal with Mushrooms, or the 

Calf in Paradise, 36 
Veal with Onions, 68 
Veal with Tomatoes, 34 

Yellow Plums and Rice, 139 



